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THE 


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WEST      CHURCH 


ITS    MINISTERS. 


Jiftkllj  ^miifecrsarg 


ORDINATION    OF    CHARLES   LOWELL,    D.D. 


BOSTON: 

CROSBY,  NICHOLS,   AND   COMPANY, 

111,  Washington  Street. 

1856. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1856,  by 

FREDEKICK      CROSBY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON : 

printed  by  john  wilson  and  son, 

22,   School    Street. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Votes  by  the  Standing  Committee iv 

Proceedings  of  the  Parish  in  Reference  to  a  Cele- 
bration OF  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Ordi- 
nation of  Charles  Lowell,  D.D.,  as  Pastor  of  the 

West  Church 3 

Services  of  the  Occasion 19 

Address  of  Dr.  Lowell 27 

Introduction    to    the    Commemorative    and    Historical 

Discourses 33 

Anniversary  Discourse 41 

Discourse  on  "William  Hooper 63 

Appendix  to  Discourse  on  William  Hooper      ....  72 

Discourse  on  Dr.  Mayhew 81 

Discourse  on  Dr.  Howard 133 

Appendix  to  Discourse  on  Dr.  Howard 159 

Theological  and  Ecclesiastical  Position  of  the  West 

Church 169 

Appendix  to  the  Discourses 205 

Account  of  the   Sunday  School  of  the  West-Boston 

Society,  by  Charles  G.  Loring 213 

List  of  Superintendents  and  Teachers  of  the  Sunday 

School 235 

Appendix  to  the  "Proceedings  of  the  Parish"   .     .     .  241 


IN    STANDING    COMMITTEE; 


Voted,  That  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  be  instructed  to  request  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Lowell  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bartol  copies  of  the  Address  and  Sermon  delivered 
on  the  day  of  the  Commemoration  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Ordination 
of  Dr.  Lowell,  —  and  the  Sermons  subsequently  delivered  by  Mr.  Bartol,  illus- 
trative of  the  lives  and  characters  of  the  former  Pastors  of  this  Society,  and  of 
its  history,  — for  publication. 

Voted,  That  Charles  G.  Loring,  Joseph  Willard,  Alexander  Wadsworth, 
and  Thomas  Gaffield,  be  requested  to  act  as  a  Committee  of  Publication,  to 
prepare  and  cause  to  be  published  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  in  reference 
to  said  Commemoration,  and  the  Address  and  Sermons  above  mentioned,  and  the 
Hymns  sung  on  that  occasion,  and  such  other  matter  as  they  may  think  proper 
for  the  interest  of  the  Society. 

Voted,  That  the  Publishing  Committee  be  authorized  to  print  as  many  copies 
as  they  may  deem  expedient. 


Boston,  Feb.  13, 1856. 


[A  true  copy.] 


A.  E.  JOHONNOT, 
Clerk  of  the  West-Boston  Society. 


PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE   PARISH. 


frocccMngs  at  i\)t  $nris^ 


IN    REFERENCE    TO 


A  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 


OF   THE   ORDINATION    OF 


CHARLES     LOWELL,    D.D., 

as  pastor  of  t^c  CZHtst  Cfjurcfj. 


In  accordance  with  notice  previously  given,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Proprietors  of  Pews  was  held  in  the 
Church,  on  Sunday,  Dec.  9,  1855,  after  the  morning 
services. 

Richard  Soule,  Esq.,  was  chosen  Chairman. 
Alexander  AVadsworth,  Esq.,  stated  the  object  of 
the  meeting  to  be  the  consideration  of  the  suitable 
observance  of  the  approaching  Fiftieth  Anniversary 
of  the  ordination  of  the  Senior  Pastor  of  this  Church 
and  Society,  and  moved  that  a  large  Committee  be 
appointed  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements,  and 
to  report  at  an  adjourned  meeting,  to  be  held  in  the 
Church  on  the  next  Sunday,  after  the  morning  ser- 
vices. 


4:  PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  by 
nomination  at  large  to  constitute  the  Committee : 
Charles  G.  Loring,  Oliver  Holman,  Andrew  Cun- 
ningham, John  Rayner,  William  B.  Callender,  Rich- 
ard Soule,  Sewell  Kendall,  Emmons  Raymond, 
Charles  W.  Lovett,  Joseph  "Willard,  "William  D. 
Coolidge,  John  T.  Heard,  Alexander  Wadsworth, 
Amos  Baker,  Levi  Brigham,  George  Dannie,  Charles 
Faulkner,  Joseph  Mackay,  George  W.  Otis,  Elias 
Haskell,  Andrew  E.  Johonnot,  Thomas  Gaffield,  and 
Ebenezer  Johnson. 

No  other  business  being  presented,  the  meeting 
adjourned  as  above. 

A.  E.  Johonnot, 

Boston,  Dec.  9,  1855.  Clerk  of  the  West-Boston  Society. 

[A  true  copy.] 


An  adjourned  meeting  of  the  proprietors  was  held 
in  the  Church,  on  Sunday,  Dec.  16,  1855,  imme- 
diately after  the  morning  services.  Richard  Soule, 
Esq.,  presided. 

Charles  G.  Loring,  Esq.,  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting,  submitted 
the  following  — 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 


PREAMBLE  AND  RESOLUTIONS. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  and  submit 
for  the  consideration  of  this  meeting  an  arrangement 
for  the  observance  of  the  approaching  Fiftieth  Anni- 
versary of  the  ordination  of  the  Senior  Pastor  of  this 
Church  and  Society,  having  ascei'tained  it  to  be  his 
desire  that  any  commemoration  which  may  be  thought 
proper  shoukl  take  place  upon  the  first  Sunday,  ra- 
ther than  upon  the  first  day,  of  the  new  year,  and 
be  of  a  nature  as  private  and  unostentatious  as  the 
end  proposed  may  allow  ;  and  being  of  opinion,  that, 
under  existing  circumstances,  an  expression  of  the 
feelings  of  the  Society  towards  him,  and  such  re- 
sponse as  he  may  be  pleased  to  make,  with  an  occa- 
sional discourse  by  the  Junior  Pastor,  and  the  simple 
forms  of  religious  worship  to  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed, embracing  any  devotional  hymns  that  may 
be  furnished,  would  constitute  the  most  appropriate 
celebration  of  this  interesting  event,  —  respectfully 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions :  — 

Preamble.  —  It  having  pleased  God  to  continue 
to  us  the  life  of  our  revered  and  beloved  Senior 
Pastor  for  the  period  of  half  a  century  from   the 

1* 


b  PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

time  of  his  ordination  over  us  in  the  Christian  mini- 
stry, the  approach  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  that 
event  leads  us  to  feel  that  it  is  due,  alike  to  him  and 
ourselves,  unitedly  to  express  and  place  upon  record 
the  declaration  of  our  grateful  appreciation  of  his 
invaluable  services,  of  our  profound  affection  and 
respect,  of  our  sympathy  in  his  privations  and  suf- 
ferings, and  of  our  gratitude  to  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther for  the  blessing  conferred  in  his  ministry,  and 
so  long  vouchsafed  to  us.  But  few  now  remain  to 
tell  of  the  zealous  joy  with  which  he  was  welcomed, 
in  the  freshness  of  his  youth,  as  the  Pastor  of  this 
Church  and  people,  and  of  their  enthusiastic  attach- 
ment to  him  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood,  induced 
not  less  by  the  fervor  and  beauty  of  his  pulpit  exer- 
cises, than  the  disinterested  self-devotion  which  led 
him  to  sacrifice  every  thing  for  the  advancement  of 
their  spiritual  welfare,  and  the  relief  of  those  whose 
grief  or  want  had  summoned  him  to  their  doors ; 
though  a  multitude,  as  we  may  well  believe  now  in 
heaven,  are  there  to  bear  witness  to  his  fidelity  to 
his  trust,  and  to  welcome  him,  as  one  who  had  lighted 
their  path  thither,  when,,  he  shall  be  summoned  to 
the  reward  of  his  labors.  It  may  well  be  questioned, 
whether  a  more  .cordial  and  affectionate  relation  of 
pastor  and  people  ever  existed  in  the  Christian  church 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH.  7 

than  that  which  has  sanctified  his  ministry  while 
engaged  in  its  activie  duties,  and  has  shed  its  benign 
influences  upon  the  hearts  of  both. 

Immediately  upon  his  settlement,  the  Society, 
which  then  consisted  of  only  about  forty  families, 
increased  to  about  three  hundred,  requiring  the 
substitution  of  this  house  of  worship,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  taste  then  prevailing,  was  considered  as  of 
great  architectural  beauty,  instead  of  the  compa- 
ratively very  small  and  humble  wooden  structure 
whose  site  it  occupies,  but  which  was  of  peculiar 
interest  and  glory,  in  view  of  the  characters  and 
labors  of  the  eminent  and  pious  men  who  had  filled 
its  pulpit,  and  worshipped  within  its  walls. 

This  Society,  so  far  as  its  history  is  known,  and 
certainly  from  the  "  time  when  the  memory  of  man 
runneth  not  to  the  contrary,"  as  some  of  us  live  to 
bear  witness,  has  been  eminently  united  and  har- 
monious. No  root  of  bitterness  has  been  permitted 
to  spring  up  among  us,  to  shed  its  poisonous  influ- 
ence upon  our  religious  assemblings,  or  to  distract 
our  affections  from  the  promotion  of  its  true  interests 
or  to  generate  the  seeds  of  contention  within  or 
without  these  walls.  If  differences  of  opinion  have 
existed  upon  matters  of  moment,  —  as  they  always 
must,  in  greater  or  less   degree,  among  men  who 


8  PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

think  for  themselves,  and  act  under  a  sense  of  per- 
sonal responsibility,  —  the  minority  has  always,  with 
true  magnanimity,  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  the  ma- 
jority ;  and  the  temporary  ruffling  of  the  sea  has 
only  served  to  show  the  seaworthiness  of  our  little 
ship,  and  how  readily  oil  upon  troubled  waters  may 
flow  from  honest  and  loving  hearts.  But,  while 
rejoicing  in  this  great  blessing,  we  would  not  be  un- 
mindful that  we  are  indebted  for  it,  in  great  degree, 
to  the  able,  wise,  and  good  men  who  have  presided, 
and  now  preside,  over  it  as  pastors  ;  who  have  sought 
to  inculcate  the  love  of  God  and  of  man,  as  enjoined 
in  the  Scriptures,  upon  the  broad  platform  of  Chris- 
tian faith  in  God  as  the  Father  of  us  all,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  sent  to  reveal  his  will,  untainted  with  sec- 
tarian bigotry  or  dogmatic  presumption  ;  and  thus 
helping  us  to  avoid  uncharitable  depreciation  of  our 
neighbors,  and  cultivating  the  spirit  of  peace  and 
disinterested  good-will  among  ourselves. 

But  it  is  not  for  the  inestimable  services  which  the 
Senior  Pastor  has  rendered  to  us  collectively,  as  a 
religious  society,  that  we  would  alone  express  our 
grateful  acknowledgments  to  him,  and  thankfulness 
to  God.  "We  feel  that  we  are  drawn  towards  him  by 
still  closer  ties  of  affection  and  sympathy,  and  owe  to 
him  a  still  deeper  debt  as  individuals,  in  whose  most 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH.  9 

sacred  joys  and  griefs  he  has  largely  shared,  and 
which  in  themselves  are  more  fitting  themes  for 
private  meditation  and  prayer  than  for  the  public 
assembly. 

He  has  baptized  many  of  us,  or  our  children ;  he 
has  united  some  of  us  in  the  most  sacred  and  dearest 
of  earthly  relations ;  he  has  aided  and  cheered  us  in 
the  chamber  of  sickness,  and  in  the  hours  of  grief 
and  disappointment ;  he  has  stood  with  us  by  the 
'bed  of  the  dying,  has  wept  with  us  over  the  un- 
buried  dead,  and  lifted  us  upon  the  wings  of  prayer 
from  the  darkness  of  the  grave  to  the  light  of 
heaven. 

But  his  service  to  us  has  not  ended  there.  It  is 
not  only  at  the  altar,  and  in  the  exercise  of  these, 
the  active  offices  of  his  station,  that  he  has  ministered 
to  us  in  holy  things,  to  prepare  us  for  the  duties 
and  struggles  of  life,  and  fit  us  for  heaven ;  but  he 
has  been  called  upon,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to 
fulfil  the  still  more  arduous  and  sublime  mission  of 
those  who,  in  helplessness,  pain,  and  grief,  are  com- 
missioned to  "  stand  and  wait." 

Sickness  and  infirmity  have  stricken  him  down  in 
the  midst  of  his  usefulness  and  honors  ;  unceasing 
pain,  from  which  sleep  affords  scarcely  a  temporary 
refuge,  has  racked  his   aching  head ;  deafness,  ren- 


10  PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

dering  verbal  intercourse  extremely  difficult,  has 
shut  him  out  from  most  of  the  endearing  communi- 
cations of  the  social  circle  and  domestic  hearth,  and 
the  soothing  and  cheering  sounds  of  nature,  in  which 
so  much  of  the  loveliness  of  life  is  found ;  disastrous 
losses  of  his  moderate  inheritance,  and  bereavement 
following  close  upon  bereavement,  desolating  his 
family  circle  and  his  fireside,  —  now  taking  the  staff 
upon  which  he  leaned,  and  now  the  rising  hope  of 
his  age,  and  now  the  beautiful  buds  just  blossoming 
around  his  hearth,  —  have  followed  in  quick  succes- 
sion, and,  to  the  unbelieving  heart,  might  seem  sent 
as  tests  of  his  faith  and  patience,  and  of  his  belief  in 
the  doctrines  he  had  taught.  But  all  have  been 
received  as  messengers  of  grace  and  mercy  ;  and  all 
have  been  converted  into  manifestations  of  the  glory 
of  Him  whom  he  worships,  and  in  whom  he  trusts. 
For  what  greater  glory  can  God  receive  from  hum- 
ble man,  than  such  exhibition  of  spiritual  elevation 
above  the  severest  of  human  sufferings,  founded  in 
such  unshaken  faith  in  his  fatherly  care  and  protec- 
tion, and  of  the  rewards  that  await  meek  resignation 
to  his  holy  will?  And  thus,  while  his  strength  has 
been  paralyzed,  and  his  voice  could  be  no  longer 
heard  in  our  assembly,  he  has  been  silently  indeed, 
but  most  emphatically,  preaching  to  us  the   ever- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH.  11 

lasting  truths  of  his  Christian  mission,  in  language 
even  more  solemn  and  impressive  than  ever  came 
from  his  warm  heart  and  eloquent  lips. 

Truly  indeed  may  it  be  said  of  him,  that,  — 

"  As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  fonn, 
Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm, 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head." 

Thankful  to  Almighty  God  that  the  blessing  of 
such  a  ministry,  so  full  of  instruction  by  precept 
and  example,  has  been  vouchsafed  to  us,  and  con- 
tinued to  us  so  long,  and  grateful  to  him  who 
has  served  us  so  faithfully  and  so  well,  we  rejoice 
that  this  fitting  occasion  has  been  allowed  to  us  for 
a  united  expression  of  our  gratitude,  sympathy,  and 
afiection,  and  for  thus  adding  our  humble  tribute  to 
the  happiness  of  his  declining  day ;  and  wc  desire  to 
record  the  expression  of  our  feelings  in  the  following 
resolutions :  — 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  a  cause  of  fervent 
gratitude  to  Almighty  God,  that  in  his  kind  provi- 
dence he  saw  fit  to  establish  the  pastoral  relation 
between  our  revered  Senior  Pastor  and  this  Church 
and  Society,  and  to  continue  it  to  the  present  day. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  gratefully  acknowledge,  and 
shall  ever   hold   in  fond   remembrance,  his   entire 


12  PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

fidelity,  untiring  zeal,  and  eminent  success  in  the 
discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties ;  his  generous  and 
hearty  friendship,  his  ever-ready  sympathy,  and 
devotion  to  our  highest  interests  collectively  and 
individually. 

3.  Resolved,  That,  from  our  inmost  hearts,  we 
sympathize  with  him  in  the  sicknesses,  afflictions, 
and  bereavements  with  which  he  has  been  visited ; 
and  humbly  pray  that  they  may  be  sanctified,  to  us 
as  well  as  to  himself,  by  the  example  of  Christian 
meekness,  faith,  and  patience,  with  which  they  are 
sustained. 

4.  Resolved,  That  we  gratefully  acknowledge  the 
goodness  of  God,  and  his  guardian  care  over  us,  in 
the  establishment  of  our  beloved  J-unior  Pastor  as 
our  minister  in  Christ,  whose  zeal  and  fidelity  in 
the  cause  of  his  Master  have  entitled  him  to  our 
warmest  affection  and  profound  respect. 

5.  Resolved,  That  we  rejoice  in  the  peace  and 
harmony  that  have  always  attended  our  union  with 
them,  and  with  each  other ;  by  means  whereof  our 
individual  happiness,  and  the  welfare  of  our  Society, 
have  been  signally  promoted,  and  its  energies  and 
resources  have  been  successfully  called  forth,  on 
every  occasion  justifying  an  appeal  to  its  sympathy 
or  liberality,  and  for  which,   under  Divine  Provi- 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH.  13 

dence,  we  are  greatly  indebted  to  the  piety,  wisdom. 
Christian  liberality,  and  personal  disinterestedness, 
which  have  uniformly  characterized  the  pastors  of 
this  Society,  and  none  more  than  those  whom  it  is 
our  happiness  to  have  over  us  at  this  time. 

6.  Resolved,  That,  in  view  of  these  considerations, 
we  contemplate  the  approaching  Fiftieth  Anniversary 
of  the  ordination  of  our  Senior  Pastor  with  deep 
interest,  and  desire  that  it  may  be  suitably  comme- 
morated, upon  the  first  Sunday  of  the  new  year, 
by  religious  services  adapted  to  the  occasion. 

That  he  be  informed,  by  the  Chairman  of  this 
meeting,  of  this  design,  and  requested  to  make  such 
communication  as  his  inclination  may  prompt  and 
his  health  permit. 

That  the  Junior  Pastor  be  requested  to  deliver  a 
discourse  upon  such  topics  as  he  shall  think  appro- 
priate;  and  that  these,  together  with  the  usual 
religious  services  of  the  Sunday,  and  with  such 
occasional  hymns  as  may  be  offered,  shall  constitute 
the  proceedings  of  the  day,  —  subject,  however,  to 
any  alteration  or  addition  which  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee may  see  fit  to  introduce. 

7.  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  aforegoing  Pre- 
amble and  Resolutions  be  sent  by  the  Chairman  to 
our  revered  Senior  Pastor,  and  entered  at  large  upon 

2 


14  PKOCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 

the  records  of  the  Society,  with  any  written  reply 
thereto  which  may  be  received  from  him. 

8.  Resolved,  That  the  Standing  Committee  be  re- 
quested to  take  any  other  measures  which  they  may 
deem  expedient  for  the  observance  of  the  day. 

Respectfully  submitted  by  the  Committee, 

Charles  G.  Loring, 

Chakman. 


Joseph  Willard,  Esq.,  after  some  impressive  and 
appropriate  remarks,  moved  the  acceptance  of  the 
Report ;  which  motion  was  seconded  by  Dea.  Alex- 
ander Wadsworth,  and  passed  by  a  unanimous 
vote. 

A.  E.  JOHONNOT, 

[A  true  cop}'.]  Clerk  of  the  West-Boston  Society. 


The  following  reply  to  the  above  Preamble  and 
Resolutions  was  received  from  Rev.  Dr.  Lowell,  by 
the  Chairman  of  the  Standing  Committee :  — 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH.  15 

"  Richard  Soule,  Esq. 

"  My  dear  Friend,  —  I  thank  you  for  the  affection- 
ate manner  in  which  you  have  communicated  the 
beautiful,  and  to  me  very  affecting.  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Parish,  in  reference  to  the  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  my  ordination,  and  the  information 
that  it  has  been  unanimously  adopted  by  the  parish 
with  which  I  have  been  so  long  connected,  and  which 
fills  so  large  a  place  in  my  heart. 

"  I  should  deem  it  proper  to  express  my  deep 
sense  of  these  proceedings  in  this  acknowledgment 
of  your  communication ;  but  I  had  already  prepared 
an  address  to  the  parish,  to  be  communicated.  Provi- 
dence permitting,  on  the  first  Sunday  in  January. 

"  Very  affectionately, 

"  Charles  Lowell. 

"Elmwood,  Dec.  19,  1855." 

A.  E.  JOHONNOT, 

[A  true  copy.]  Clerk  of  the  West-Boston  Society. 


SERVICES   OF  THE   OCCASION. 


2* 


SERVICES  OF   THE   OCCASION. 


According  to  the  contemplated  arrangement,  the 
anniversaiy  of  Dr.  Lowell's  ordination  was  to  have 
taken  place  on  Sunday,  Jan.  6,  1856 ;  but,  on  that 
and  the  preceding  day,  one  of  the  most  violent  snow- 
storms for  several  years  prevailed,  blocking  up  all 
the  railroads  and  avenues  to  the  city.  The  Commit- 
tee were  unable  to  obtain  a  carriage  to  go  to  Cam- 
bridge; and  the  services  of  the  anniversary  were 
postponed  until  the  following  week. 

On  Sunday,  Jan.  13,  notwithstanding  a  driving 
storm  of  snow  and  rain,  a  deputation  from  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements  (Levi  Brigham,  Esq.,  and 
Deacon  Alexander  Wads  worth)  proceeded  to  the 
reside»ce  of  the  Senior  Pastor  in  Cambridge,  and 
accompanied  him,  in  a  close  carriage,  to  the  Church. 
The  Church  was  well  filled ;  but  many  more  would 
have  been  present,  had  the  weather  been  propitious. 


20  SERVICES    OF    THE    OCCASION.      ^ 

and  had  it  not  been  supposed  that  the  services  would 
again  be  postponed. 

The  venerable  Senior  Pastor,  leaning  on  the  arm 
of  Rev.  C.  A.  Bartol,  the  Junior  Pastor,  was  con- 
ducted to  the  pulpit,  which,  by  reason  of  feeble 
health,  he  had  not  occupied  for  some  years.  The 
services  were  commenced  by  the  singing  of  the 
following  original  hymn,  written  for  the  occasion 
by  Mr.  Bartol :  — 

THE  JUBILEE. 

O  Israel  !  at  the  trumpet  turn ; 

From  toil  set  every  household  free ; 
While  priests  with  people  meet,  and  burn 

To  share  the  long-hoped  jubilee ! 

Let  royal  psalms  all  ranks  rejoice, 
Each  alien  take  his  ancient  ground, 

The  loosened  bondmen  lift  their  voice, 
The  lowliest  Hebrew  head  be  crowned ! 

Through  fifty  overarching  years, 
Their  sorrows  are  a  fleeting  shade  : 

Fall  now  like  far-off"  rain  their  tears ; 
In  mercy's  light  their  miseries  fade. 

A  Christian  jubilee  we  sing : 

Guided  in  gloom,  in  grief  consoled, 

Through  half  a  century's  crowded  ring 
Our  countless  flock  yet  seeks  one  fold. 


SERVICES    OF    THE    OCCASION.  21 

The  church  and  shepherd,  joined  by  God, 

A  golden  wedding  celebrate, 
With  joy  that  flowers  upon  his  rod, 

And  peace  outblooming  earthly  date. 

Fast  by  your  heritage  still  stand. 

Ye  cliildren !  —  for  the  past  give  praise  : 

Our  younger  with  the  elder  band 
Breathe  vows  of  love  to  endless  days. 


A  short  prayer  followed  by  Mr.  Bartol,  during 
which  the  Senior  Pastor  stood  by  his  side.  Dr. 
Lowell  then  read  the  following  hymn  :  — 


While  thee  I  seek,  protecting  Power ! 

Be  my  vain  -wishes  stilled ; 
And  may  this  consecrated  hour 

With  better  hopes  be  filled ! 

Thy  love  the  powers  of  thought  bestowed ; 

To  thee  my  thoughts  would  soar ; 
Thy  mercy  o'er  my  life  has  flowed,  — 

That  mercy  I  adore. 

In  each  event  of  life,  how  clear 

Thy  ruling  hand  I  see ! 
Each  blessing  to  my  soul  more  dear. 

Because  conferred  by  thee. 

In  every  joy  that  crowns  my  days. 

In  every  pain  I  bear, 
My  heart  shall  find  delight  in  praise, 

Or  seek  relief  in  prayer. 


A^'  SERVICES    OF    THE    OCCASION. 

When  gladness  wings  my  favored  hour, 

Thy  love  my  thoughts  shall  fill ; 
Resigned,  when  storms  of  sorrow  lower, 

My  soul  shall  meet  thy  will. 

My  lifted  eye  without  a  tear 

The  gathering  storm  shall  see ; 
My  steadfast  heart  shall  know  no  fear ; 

That  heart  shall  rest  on  thee. 

The  Junior  Pastor  then  read  the  twenty-third 
Psalm.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Junior  Pastor; 
after  which,  the  following  original  hymn,  written  by 
Miss  Horatia  S.  Ware,  was  sung  :  — 

Behold,  the  years,  the  conquering  years, 

Run  out  man's  little  life ! 
Furrows  and  fi'osts  and  pains  and  tears 

Proclaim  the  unequal  strife. 

Behold  the  soul,  serene  and  strong, 

Beneath  its  patriarch  day  ! 
Its  morning  beauty  plays  along 

Its  evening's  glorious  way. 

So  shines  the  day  of  him  who  wrought, 

O  church  of  Chiist !  for  you ; 
Your  homes  and  graves  and  hearts  have  taught 

How  faithful  and  how  true. 

His  way  of  duty  girdled  round 

Your  every  varied  lot ; 
To  God's  deep  providences  boimd. 

And  to  himself  forgot. 


ser\t:ces  of  the  occasion.  23 

Time's  shadows  fall ;  he  rests  him  now : 

O  grace  of  God !  descend ; 
Infold  his  heart,  and  bless  his  brow, 

And  own  him  as  thy  friend. 

The  Anniversary  Discourse,  contained  in  the  sub- 
sequent pages  of  this  book,  was  then  delivered  by  the 
Junior  Pastor.  At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Bartol's  dis- 
course, Dr.  Lowell  delivered  the  Address,  which  will 
be  found  in  its  appropriate  place. 

The  following  hymn,  written  for  the  jubilee  by 
Mrs.  C.  W.  Richards,  was  then  sung :  — 

Great  God  !  to  thee  all  praise  ascribing 

For  the  teachings  of  this  day. 
May  thy  love,  with  all  abiding, 
Be  the  sunlight  of  om-  way ! 
Christ  illume  us, 
Christ  illume  us, 
"While,  as  chilcben,  we  obey. 

Help  us  now,  whilst,  all  imploring, 

Joyous  memories  m  us  move, 
"  Light  of  other  days  "  restoring, 
Fifty  years  of  peace  and  love ! 
Still  prepare  us, 
Still  prepare  us, 
For  eternal  joys  above. 

The  interesting  services  were  closed  with  a  bene- 
diction by  the  Junior  Pastor. 


24  SERVICES    OF    THE    OCCASION. 

The  teachers  and  pupils  of  the  Sunday  school, 
desirous  of  manifesting  their  interest  in  the  occasion, 
presented  their  token  in  the  form  of  some  most 
beautiful  and  fragrant  bouquets,  with  which  the 
communion-table  and  baptismal-font  were  tastefully 
decorated  by  a  committee  of  their  number.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  public  services,  a  bouquet  was 
presented  to  each  of  the  pastors  ;  and  some  time 
was  spent  in  the  exchange  of  salutations  between  the 
Senior  Pastor  and  the  old,  the  middle-aged,  and  the 
young  of  the  flock,  who  thronged  the  aisle  to  take 
the  hand  and  receive  the  affectionate  greetings  of 
their  venerable  friend. 

Dr.  Lowell,  who  seemed  to  be  very  happy  on  the 
occasion,  and  deeply  to  enjoy  the  welcome  of  his 
friends,  after  bidding  them  an  affectionate  farewell, 
was  accompanied  to  his  home  by  the  same  Commit- 
tee by  whom  he  was  attended  in  the  morning. 

In  the  afternoon,  Eev.  Mr.  Bartol  preached  a  dis- 
course upon  the  life  and  character  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Hooper.  The  other  discourses  were  delivered  on 
the  succeeding  sabbaths. 


ADDRESS   OF  DR.   LOWELL. 


ADDRESS   OF   DR.   LOWELL. 


On  the  first  day  of  a  new  year,  a  council  was  assem- 
bled in  Boston  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a 
minister  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  West  Church. 

It  was  a  beautiful  day  ;  a  day,  —  as  was  remarked 
in  the  service  of  the  ordination,  —  "  without  a 
cloud."  The  sky  was  clear  and  serene ;  there  was 
no  strife  in  the  elements  ;  all  was  calm.  The 
transactions  of  that  day  were  in  unison  with  the 
harmony  of  nature  :  there  was  entire  unanimity  in 
the  call  of  the  parish  to  their  new  minister  ;  there 
was  entire  unanimity  in  the  vote  of  the  council  to 
proceed  to  his  ordination. 

All  this  was  considered  as  the  harbinger  of  a 
peaceful  and  happy  union.  Half  a  century  has 
passed  away,  and  the  augury  is  as  yet  fulfilled. 

He  who,  fifty  years  ago,  was  inducted  to  this 
charge,  and  who  now  addresses  you,  is  able,  as  it 
regards    the    connection    an(i   intercourse    between 


28  ADDKESS    OF    DR.    LOWELL. 

minister  and  people,  to  say,  "  It  has  been  a  ministry 
without  a  cloud."  Nothing  has  occurred  to  disturb 
its  tranquillity,  —  nothing  to  bring  even  a  shade  of 
darkness  over  it. 

I  have  been  with  you,  not  only  "  without  fear," 
but  in  intimate  and  confidential  affection  ;  as  a  father 
with  his  children,  and  a  brother  with  brothers. 

You  have  told  me  your  joys  and  your  sorrows, 
your  doubts  and  anxieties,  your  forebodings  of  evil, 
and  your  anticipations  of  future  happiness  on  earth 
and  in  heaven ;  and  I  have  largely  shared  with  you 
in  all.  Who  has  rejoiced,  and  I  have  not  rejoiced  ? 
Who  has  been  sorrowful,  and  I  have  not  mourned  ? 
"  Who  has  been  weak,  and  I  have  not  been  weak  ? 
Who  has  been  offended,  and  I  burned  not  ?  " 

But  how  abundantly  have  you  repaid  me  with 
good  !  My  joys  have  been  your  joys,  and  my  sorrows 
your  sorrows.  In  health  and  sickness,  in  prosperity 
and  adversity,  I  have  had  your  constant  and  earnest 
sympathy. 

I  have  kept  back  nothing  that  I  thought  would 
be  profitable  to  you  -,  and  you  have  not  deemed  me 
"your  enemy  because  I  told  you  the  truth."  If  you 
have  spoken  evil  of  me,  I  have  not  heard  of  it ;  if 
you  have  thought  evil  of  me,  it  has  not  been  known 
to  me.     In  the  long  period  in  which  I  have  been  so 


ADDRESS    OF    DR.    LOWELL.  29 

closely  connected  with  you,  not  an  unkind  word  or 
an  averted  look  have  I  had  from  any  one  of  you.  All 
our  intercourse  has  been  uninterruptedly  governed 
by  the  law  of  kindness  and  love. 

But  it  is  not  only  of  those  of  you  who  are  as  yet 
on  earth  that  I  thus  speak.  To  generation  after 
generation  I  have  ministered ;  and  I  speak,  too,  of 
those  who  have  entered  "  within  the  vail."  Yes, 
spirits  of  the  beloved  departed !  standing  on  the 
confines  of  that  eternity  on  which  you  have  entered, 
I  speak  also  of  you.  In  deep  humility  of  soul,  I 
would  fain  believe  that  you  remember  me  without 
reproach,  and  that  your  voices  will  be  lifted  up  in 
my  behalf  on  the  day  of  final  retribution. 

I  was  a  young  man,  my  beloved  friends,  —  but 
a  little  past  my  majority,  —  when  I  entered  on  this 
ministry.  They  were  youthful  arms  which  were 
then  extended  to  assist  in  bearing  up,  under  God, 
this  ark  of  the  Lord.  It  was  a  youthful  heart  that 
beat  responsive  to  the  earnest  call  that  was  made 
upon  it  for  its  sympathy  and  affection.  I  am  now 
old,  and  enfeebled  by  disease ;  but  my  heart  is  still 
warm,  and  will  still  beat  with  affection  towards  you 
till  it  ceases  to  beat  at  all. 

It  is  known  only  to  Him  who  knoweth  all  things, 
how  much  longer  I  shall  be  with  you,  or  how  often, 

3* 


30  ADDRESS    OF    DR.    LOWELL. 

if  at  all,  I  shall  be  permitted  to  meet  you  in  this 
place  of  our  solemnities,  or  in  the  intercourse  of 
private  life.  It  is  my  fervent  wish  and  prayer, 
"  that,  whether  I  come  and  see  you,  or  else  am  ab- 
sent, I  may  hear  of  your  affairs,  that  you  stand  fast  in 
one  spirit,  striving  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel,"  and 
that,  when  all  earthly  connections  are  dissolved,  we 
may  dwell  together  in  a  world  where  the  day  is 
"  without  a  cloud,"  and  "  our  sun  will  no  more  go 
down." 


INTRODUCTION  TO  MR.  BARTOL'S  DISCOURSES. 


INTRODUCTION 


COMMEMORATIVE   AND    HISTORICAL    DISCOURSES, 
PREACHED   BY   C.  A.  BARTOL. 


The  present  volume  will  probably  reach  few  or  none 
who  may  not  already  have  heard  of  the  interesting  occa- 
sion of  the  Semi-centennial  Anniversary  of  Dr.  Lowell's 
pastoral  relation  with  the  West  Church.  As  respects  that 
portion  of  the  book,  in  the  following  discourses,  for  which 
the  writer  here  is  responsible,  he  must  explain  that  his 
original  design  was  to  include  whatever  he  should  say  of 
his  predecessors  in  the  pulpit  in  the  single  eiFort  of  that 
occasion  ;  but  he  soon  found  that  the  slightest  attempt 
at  an  execution  of  that  design  would  break  the  plan  of 
any  sermon,  and  carry  him  altogether  beyond  the  limits 
of  a  public  religious  service.  The  materials  were  accord- 
ingly shaped  into  successive  addresses,  which  only  com- 
plete the  idea  of  the  first,  and  ai-e  now  put  forth  at  the 
request  of  the  parish,  for  whose  benefit  they  were  com- 
posed. The  motive  of  their  appearance  is  in  no  personal 
wish  of  the  author,  but  in  the  judgment  expressed  among 
the  people  to  whom  he  ministers,  that  they  might  serve 
a  permanently  good  purpose  for  the   Society  itself,  and 


34  INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    DISCOURSES. 

possibly  for  some  wider  circle  of  readers  ;  otherwise  the 
inclination  to  confine  these  thoughts  to  the  attention  of 
our  own  Christian  family  would  have  prevailed.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  public,  so  far  as  its  eye  may  be  won 
to  these  pages,  may  not  miss  of  being  interested  and 
edified  by  their  perusal.  Yet  a  sufficient  reward  will  be 
gained  for  the  labor  of  their  preparation,  if  those,  to  whom 
what  they  contain  was  a  spoken  word,  shall,  from  some 
further  study  of  them,  grow  in  that  common  consciousness, 
that  feeling  of  unity  and  fraternity,  by  which  they  are 
already  characterized  and  known. 

As  it  pertains  to  the  true  character  of  an  individual, 
that  he  should  be  fully  aware  of  all  his  relations,  and 
acquainted  with  the  antecedents  which  define  or  modify 
his  particular  duties,  till  a  just  self-respect  shall  always 
with  him  come  in  aid  of  his  virtue ;  so  it  deeply  concerns 
a  religious  society  not  to  be  self-ignorant,  but,  in  its  age, 
to  return  with  fond  memory  to  its  childhood  and  youth ; 
to  identify  itself  with  foregoing  and  following  generations ; 
from  its  oldest  to  the  youngest  members,  to  be  stirred 
with  warm  and  holy  emulation,  especially  of  any  great 
and  good  characters  that  have  graced  its  annals ;  to  be 
inspired,  not  with  pride,  but  with  a  becoming  dignity  at 
the  recollection  of  whatever  has  been  worthy  in  its  origin 
or  noble  in  its  career,  and  to  incorporate  what  may  be 
called  an  historic  consciousness  with  the  ever-acting  per- 
sonal and  purely  spiritual  incentives  to  well-doing.  To 
such  an  end  is  cheerfully  offered  this  little  contribution. 
Whatever  power  may  come  from  this  printed  preaching 
will  be  less  in  the  writer's  part  than  in  the  memorials  of 
others  which  he  cites.  The  past,  whenever  it  speaks  its 
meaning,  becomes  a  preacher,  more  affecting  and  jjersua- 
sive  to  the  soul  than  any  of  those  who  stand  in  pulpits,  as 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    DISCOURSES.  35 

it  has  a  voice,  only  the  inward  ear  can  listen  to,  akin  to 
the  internal  whisper  and  silent  word  of  God. 

Let  the  readers  of  this  book  be  advised,  that  whatever 
may  seem  slight  in  the  present  work  must  be  charitably 
construed,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  brief  sketches  in- 
tended drew  out  their  own  at  first  miniature  lines  into  broad 
biographical  pictures,  till  the  delineator  was  himself  sur- 
prised with  the  attempt  at  coloring,  nowise  anticipated, 
which  became  the  substitute  for  his  at  first  meagre  sugges- 
tions of  light  and  shade.  If,  at  the  beginning,  a  proper  his- 
tory had  been  proposed,  its  range  would,  of  course,  have 
been  more  extensive  still,  and  would  have  had  such  an  ac- 
companiment of  notes  and  documents  as  might  be  neces- 
sary to  verify  the  judgments  expressed  and  the  statements 
made  ;  yet  it  is  questionable  whether  in  this  case  oppor- 
tunity would  have  been  found  to  do  a  work  of  really 
greater  value.  He  that  labors  in  a  matter  out  of  his 
accustomed  track,  or  his  real  tendency,  feels  that  he  is 
laboring  as  with  his  left  hand.  What,  therefore,  is  ac- 
complished is,  according  to  the  small  historic  faculty 
employed,  and  the  limited  leisure  of  a  busy  professional 
life,  continually  exhausting  every  day's  measure  of  phy- 
sical strength  for  tasks  of  intense  intellectual  and  sym- 
pathetic labor.  Yet,  though  there  has  not  been  written,  as 
there  was  not  ability  to  write,  a  regular  history  of  the 
parish,  it  may  be  said  that  much  time  and  careful  reflec- 
tion have  been  bestowed  on  the  reading  of  whatever  could 
be  found  bearing  on  the  various  points  of  the  general 
theme.  Large  tomes  of  chronicles  have  been  consulted, 
and  smaller  volumes  of  tracts  searched;  manuscript  let- 
ters have  been  perused ;  and  recollections  of  those  whose 
characters  are  portrayed,  awakened  in  minds  inscribed 
with  fond  records  or  actual  types  of  the  departed.     Some 


36  INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    DISCOURSES. 

threads  of  tradition  have  been  caught,  not  to  lead  to  a 
repetition  of  old  incidents  and  unimportant  details,  but 
as  clews  to  decided  traits  of  character.  A  debt  is  owed 
to  the  Historical  Society  of  Boston,  for  opening  some  of 
its  treasures ;  to  the  Athenseum,  for  an  examination  of  its 
rich  collection  of  Tracts ;  to  Bradford's  Memoir  of  May- 
hew  ;  to  Dr.  Lowell,  for  the  information  contained  in  his 
historical  discourses,  with  their  copious  and  very  interest- 
ing notes  ;  to  "  Memories  of  Youth  and  Manhood,"  by  Sid- 
ney Willard,  for  interesting  reminiscences  and  allusions ; 
to  George  E.  Ellis,  and  to  Richard  L.  Pease,  Esq.,  for  some 
valuable  hints ;  and  to  Joseph  "Willard,  Esq.,  our  esteemed 
parishioner,  for  the  loan  of  an  unpublished  Sermon,  de- 
livered by  his  father,  the  President  of  Harvard  College, 
at  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Howard.  From  this  cordial  and 
conscientious  tribute  of  the  worthy  and  distinguished 
official  head,  in  his  day,  of  American  literature,  to  his 
dearly  cherished  friend,  liberty  has  been  taken  to  draw 
largely  for  the  account  of  Dr.  Howard,  whose  character- 
istics it  is  peculiarly  suitable  that  one  of  his  own  contem- 
poraries should  define.  The  broad  and  clear  impression 
made  by  Dr.  Mayhew  on  his  age  leaves  in  doubt  no  one 
who  would  follow  the  grand  march  of  his  mind.  The 
consequences,  in  after-times,  of  his  action,  co-operative  with 
that  of  other  prominent  spirits,  make  an  inexhaustible 
mine,  every  fresh  working  of  which  yields  new  riches. 
The  distance  of  Hooper  from  our  own  day,  and  his  retire- 
ment from  his  charge,  are  perhaps  among  the  causes  of 
the  imperfect  register  left  us  of  his  life.  Those  still 
among  us,  who  have,  by  reason  of  a  former  relationship 
by  marriage,  a  kind  of  hereditary  interest  in  him,  are 
possessed  of  no  papers  that  throw  special  light  on  his 
course.     Perhaps  the  whole  result  of  this  investigation 


INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    DISCOURSES.  37 

may  stand  for  a  while  in  place  of  some  better  and  larger 
report  of  the  foregoing  administration  of  our  affairs,  and 
may  afford  mateinals  of  fact  or  thought  to  a  hand  more 
competent  to  this  sort  of  writing,  and  less  tired  from  the 
pressure  of  other  toih  At  least,  let  there  be  place  for  the 
prayer  that  our  feeble  work  may  not  be  wholly  worthless 
to  men,  or  cast  out  by  the  true  judgment  of  God. 


ANNIVERSARY   DISCOURSE. 


ANNIVERSAHY  DISCOURSE. 


Zech.  vii.  7:  "Should  ye  not  hear  the  words  which  the  Lord 

HATH  CRIED  BY  THE  FORMER  PROPHETS?" 


On  an  occasion  like  this  so  very  rare  celebration 
of  a  Fifty  Years'  Christian  ministry,  in  a  single 
place,  by  one  towards  whom,  in  the  minds  of  his 
friends,  love  and  veneration  strive  to  be  each  the 
foremost  sentiment ;  one  whose  presence  is  a  me- 
morial of  the  past;  whose  life  is  the  link  for  us  of 
departed  generations  of  preachers  and  worshippers ; 
who  looks  round,  and  sees  few  of  his  contemporaries 
here  or  elsewhere  alive  ;  who  feels  that  his  main 
work  has  been  done  with  those  M'e  ignorantly  call 
dead,  who  live  for  ever ;  and  yet  that  he  also  once 
stood  young  in  a  line  of  laborers  in  an  ancient  vine- 
yard, striving  to  catch  the  spirit  of  his  predecessors, 
which  he  still  manifests  abundantly  now  that  he  is 
old,  —  his  junior  in  this  charge  may  be  permitted  to 

4* 


42  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

associate  the  departed  forerunners  with  the  honored 
senior,  who  is  at  once  of  the  saints  and  in  the  flesh, 
standing  long  with  the  face  holy  cheerfulness  gives 
to  patience,  one  foot  as  in  heaven,  and  the  other 
upon  earth. 

As  this  our  ministerial  office  will  thus  be  brought 
to  view  in  the  light  of  some  of  its  purest  illustra- 
tions, I  desire  to  say,  beforehand,  that  I  am  not  of 
those  who  would  claim  regard  for  men  merely  on 
account  of  the  office  with  which  they  are  clothed. 
The  modern  Reverend,  as  appropriated  to  a  special 
function,  I  cannot  like,  any  more  than  Jesus  taught 
the  first  teachers  of  his  religion  to  like  or  be  called 
by  the  ancient  Rabbi.  The  useful  classes  in  the 
community,  be  they  what  they  may ;  the  servants  of 
the  state ;  the  ministers  of  justice  and  health ;  the 
factors  of  commerce ;  the  votaries  of  art,  representing 
their  select  gift  and  lofty  love  in  any  of  the  forms 
of  beauty  ;  the  students,  faithful  lovers  and  proclaim- 
ers  of  any  truth ;  and  the  myriad  swarming  children 
of  industry,  who  people  the  planet,  and  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  heavy  wheels  of  this  solid  world,  — 
all  to  me  are  alike  reverend,  so  far  as  their  motive, 
each  in  his  divinely  appointed  sphere,  is  to  do  God's 
will,  and  bless  their  fellow-creatures.  But  the  time 
asks  of  us  now  a  tribute  to  the  faithful  and  devoted 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  43 

teacher  of  religion,  as  that  style  of  manhood  has 
been  borne,  by  our  forerunners  and  our  venerable 
friend,  on  the  very  spot  which  finds  here  its  centre. 

I  do  not  propose,  however,  even  in  this  design  of 
my  discourse,  to  draw  the  character  of  my  colleague 
and  elder  :  death  has  given  no  one  leave  to  do  that. 
Were  it  possible  I  should  be  the  painter,  the  time 
has  not  come  for  the  portrait,  save  as  the  real  inner 
likeness  is  with  such  vivid  sincerity  sketched  in  the 
outward  countenance,  of  which  it  may  be  the  privi- 
lege of  canvas  or  stone  to  have  some  copy,  but  which 
we  carry  more  truly  in  our  sight,  or  in  that  memory 
and  imagination  which  are  the  eyes  of  the  soul. 

With  such  vision,  alone  indeed,  as  a  congregation, 
have  we  of  late  years  beheld  him.  It  has  been  a 
solicitous  inquiry,  whether  we  should  see  him  other- 
wise even  to-day.  By  the  mercy  of  God,  he  is 
present  with  us.  But  when  not  present  in  the 
body,  yet  from  this  pulpit,  and  yonder  doorway  and 
vestry,  and  little  sanctuary  below  of  the  Sunday 
school,  can  he  to  our  thoughts  ever  be  absent  ? 
After  the  sun  has  set,  he  sends  often  a  glory  through 
the  sky,  more  touching  and  beautiful  than  his  mid-day 
splendor.  Such  glory  do  vanished  faces  leave  behind 
them  in  the  rooms  where,  with  a  light  that  was  love, 
they  shone    upon    us.     '*  Thou  art  not  gone,  being 


44  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

gone,^^  we  may  say  to  every  friend  on  earth  or  in 
heaven  who  has  stirred  the  better  soul  in  us.  We 
are  not  separated  from  our  pastor  by  a  little  space 
that  may  be  between  us  and  him  ;  we  have  ever  in 
our  eye  his  aspect,  with  its  deep  dints  of  decision 
and  flowing  lines  of  benignity  ;  we  note  the  flush  of 
a  warm  temperament,  through  which  beams  a  peace 
from  within  that  transpierces  with  mild  lustre  the 
keen  eye,  and  seems  to  lay  the  whitening  locks  ever 
more  smooth  and  even  on  his  placid  brow  ;  we  feel 
the  atmosphere  of  ancient  hymns  and  prayers  that 
hangs  round  him,  and  is  often  vocal  on  his  tongue  ; 
we  hear  the  ring  of  his  voice,  in  which  an  iron 
strength  melts  into  cordial  sweetness  ;  we  observe 
the  earnest  will  which,  in  every  gesture,  is  turned 
to  motions  of  unaffected- sympathy. 

But  our  friend  lives,  and  is  here.  I  restrain  my- 
self to  this  merely  outward  and  superficial  suggestion 
of  his  wonted  look :  I  enter  into  no  explanation  of 
the  inner  being,  sacred  to  God,  sacred  to  man. 
Far  from  me  be  the  presumption  of  praising  him,  of 
substituting  my  description  for  your  knowledge,  or 
of  anticipating  the  honorable  duties,  which  many  a 
one  will  by  and  by  be  so  glad  to  perform,  of  his  bio- 
grapher and  eulogist.  For,  however  I  might  please 
you  or  myself,  I  could  count  only  on  offending  him. 


AXNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  45 

as  any  generous  soul  would  have  a  right  to  be  of- 
fended, by  my  so  doing ;  and  this  assembly  has 
come  up  hither  for  no  curious  gratification  of  its 
own,  but  that  we  might  altogether,  from  our  joint 
hands,  tender  a  cup  of  holy  joy  to  him  whose  season 
of  delight  and  gratitude  this  day,  that  looks  back 
over  nearly  two  generations,  and  forward  into  the 
endless  heavenly  cycle,  peculiarly  is.  The  time  is 
his.  God  grant  that  whatever  is  said  or  done  from 
first  to  last  in  it  may  make  him  happy  ! 

But  though  I  shall  not  describe,  I  may  for  myself, 
and  in  your  name,  at  least  greet  him.  —  My  Elder,  and 
long  ray  companion,  God  has  heard,  God  has  crowned, 
your  and  our  fond  wishes  and  prayers,  in  sparing 
you  to  this  hour !  God  has  given  you  one  draught 
of  plentiful  and  overflowing  satisfaction  in  the 
midst  of  much  suffering.  God  has  permitted  to  us 
the  old  and  dear  irradiation  of  this  temple  with  your 
familiar  presence  and  look,  of  which  disease  cannot 
take  away  the  charm,  dim  though  it  may  the  color, 
and  waste  as  it  must  the  fulness  of  the  material 
shrine.  Even  at  the  distant  coming  of  this  day, 
we  have  been  glad  to  see  "  hope  elevate,  and  joy 
brighten  your  crest,"  and,  as  it  drew  near,  a  fresh 
inspiration  light  up  your  eye,  kindle  your  foculties, 
and  urge  the  warm  and  generous  blood  more  quickly 
through  your  veins. 


46  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

And  no'^v,  "  our  father  in  God,"  by  no  formal 
title  or  ecclesiastical  appointment,  but  by  the  sen- 
timent of  your  people,  we  will  gladly  solemnize 
the  season.  Your  friends  are  around  you.  For 
how  many  years  they  have  stood  by  you  !  Your 
fidelity  to  them  they  have  well  answered  by  their 
faithfulness  to  you.  Their  votes  and  actions  re- 
specting, you  are  an  accurate  transcript,  like  the 
true  copy  and  pattern  of  heavenly  things  made  for 
God's  ancient  church,  of  your  affections  and  pray- 
ers for  them.  Some  of  them  have  come  from  the 
places,  whither  time  and  change  have  scattered 
them  afar,  to  observe  and  magnify  your  jubilee. 
Your  own  flock,  at  your  wonted  signal,  crowd  after 
their  shepherd  into  the  fold.  Like  the  flocks  in  the 
East,  they  have  always  followed  you,  and  been 
drawn,  not  driven  ;  and  no  friendly  voice  uttered, 
or  pleasant  pipe  blown  afar  by  the  keepers  of  the 
sheep  on  Syrian  plains,  has  been  less  strange  or 
more  welcome  to  the  ears  that  heard  it  than  your 
tones  have  been  to  them.  Many  of  them  you  have 
joined  in  the  bands  of  marriage.  Many  of  them  in 
infancy  were  received  into  your,  next  after  their 
fathers'  and  mothers',  arms.  With  many  of  them 
you  have  prayed  at  the  bed  of  their  sickness,  or 
stood,  with  support  and  assurance  in  your  look,  over 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  47 

the  coffins  containing  the  forms  they  could  no  longer 
clasp  to  their  bosoms.  On  many  of  the  brows,  now 
expanding  to  shadow  forth  all  manly  and  womanly 
thought  and  feeling,  when  they  were  soft  and  spot- 
less, (oh,  to  any  Christian  pastor,  thrilling  sight  and 
experience,  which  in  some  measure  I  share  with 
you !)  your  hand  has  left  the  emblem  of  Christian 
purity  in  the  waters  of  baptism ;  and  the  bread  and 
wine,  which  are  the  tokens  of  a  Saviour's  love,  you 
have  broken  and  poured,  for  all  you  could  gather  to 
his  table,  with  much  love  of  your  own.  All  this 
you  have  done,  till  the  locks  of  your  own  youth- 
ful strength  have  grown  hoary  in  the  doing  of 
it.  For  some  years,  this  pastoral  activity  has  inevi- 
tably diminished ;  and  there  is  a  not  inconsiderable 
part  of  our  host  here  with  whom  you  have  had  little 
or  no  intercourse.  But  those  of  our  number,  not  a 
few,  whom  we  have  welcomed  to  these  seats  since 
the  interruption  of  your  active  service,  now  conspire 
cordially  with  us  in  offerings  to  you  of  respect. 

For  myself,  long  associated  with  you  in  a  most 
tender  and  trying  relation,  without  one  ungentle 
word  or  gloomy  cloud  coming  between  us,  in  a  har- 
mony which  seemed  to  have  about  it  a  character  and 
spell  of  necessity,  so  impossible  has  it  been  for  any 
circumstance  to  have  power  to  turn  it  into  discord. 


48  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

or  any  change  to  bring  it  to  a  close  ;  feeling  that 
you  can  have  heard  or  seen  nothing  of  wilful  defi- 
ciency, on  my  part,  to  the  vows  I  have  assumed, 
and  shall  fulfil  to  the  end,  —  I  am  happy  to  be, 
to-day,  their  organ  of  expression.  You  may  im- 
perfectly hear  my  speech,  and  indistinctly  see 
throughout  the  gathering  of  this  assembly ;  but 
the  outward  seeing  and  hearing  could  not,  by  any 
means,  embrace  the  whole  significance  for  you  of 
this  occasion.  Though  you  could  hear  and  see  per- 
fectly all  that  is  here  said  and  done,  other  voices 
than  mine  are  in  your  ear  ;  other  sights  than  of  this 
congregation  are  in  your  eye.  Lo !  at  this  instant 
the  past  rushes  back  upon  you.  Lo !  through  this 
sound  the  past  echoes  out  upon  you.  Fifty  years  of 
ministerial  labor!  It  is  like  an  age  in  the  history 
of  the  race.  How  many  thousands,  young  and  old, 
have,  during  a  period  so  vast,  been  counselled, 
warned,  guided,  and  saved  !  What  successive  troops 
of  children  have  been  taken  by  the  hand,  how  many 
aged  have  received  the  last  earthly  farewells  !  A 
veteran  spiritual  adviser,  gazing  back  over  the  course, 
lined  as  .  with  alternate  cradles  and  graves,  and 
brightened  with  the  growth  and  strewn  with  the 
decay  of  all  that  is  most  strong  and  lovely  in  life, 
along  which  he  has  travelled,  must  feel  that  he  has 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  49 

seen  whatever  can  occur,  tasted  of  all  that  is  sweet 
or  bitter  in  existence,  spanned  in  his  own  term  the 
entire  compass  of  humanity,  been  contemporary 
with  many  generations,  and  lived  a  full  round 
indeed  of  mortal  life  through  no  very  insignificant 
part  of  the  duration  of  the  world, 

I  have  stood  upon  a  hill-top,  commanding  almost 
a  complete  circle  of  the  sea,  and  beheld  countless 
ships,  on  their  ceaseless  voyages,  holding  their  way 
over  its  mighty  deep,  —  some  disappearing,  as  thou- 
sands had  done  before,  over  the  horizon's  misty 
edge,  some  just  coming  with  spotless  sail  and  slen- 
der figure  into  sight,  some  in  full  and  fine  career 
midway  along  the  line  of  vision.  So  you  stand  on 
your  eminence  of  years  and  acquisitions,  and  mark 
the  sailors,  in  tiny  boats  or  majestic  barks,  in  their 
course  over  the  solemn  ocean  of  life.  What  mul- 
titudes, once  before  you,  have  disajipeared  from  your 
vision  !  But  all  in  the  compass  of  your  present  ob- 
servation salute  you  as  they  go  ;  and  calls  and  beck- 
onings  of  arrived  and  glorified  ones,  I  doubt  not, 
are  well  nigh  perceptible  to  your  mind.  The  coming 
of  human  beings  into  the  world,  their  departure  out 
of  the  world,  their  most  momentous  connection  in 
the  world,  their  bu'ths,  their  marriages,  and  their 
deaths,   those    commonplace    headings  of   the  daily 

5 


50  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

advertisement,  yet  most  blessed  or  solemn  occasions 
of  mortal  existence,  the  sources  of  the  deepest  emo- 
tions of  human  sorrow  or  joy,  the  subjects  of  all 
history  and  inspired  poetry,  the  beginnings  of  the 
great  eras  in  our  earthly  life,  and  the  dates  to  which 
eternity  itself  will  look  back,  —  these  primary  events 
of  our  being  are  all  intimately  related  to  the  duty 
and  spiritual  experience  of  the  Christian  minister. 
The  entries  upon  his  book  are  also  the  most  impor- 
tant facts  in  the  page  of  the  civil  register ;  the  notice 
of  the  public  press,  or  the  short  but  significant  lines 
in  the  private  journal,  or  blank  leaf  of  the  Bible,  con- 
taining the  domestic  record.  After  the  parent's  own, 
no  eyes  look  a  warmer  welcome  than  the  minister's  to 
the  babe  he  takes  as  a  lamb  into  his  charge.  After 
the  incomparable  sympathies  of  conjugal  love  and 
joy,  no  heart  rejoices  more  in  fit  unions  between  man 
and  wife  than  that  of  the  minister  who  is  called  to 
unite  them.  After  the  weeping  of  the  bereaved 
kindred,  no  tears  fall  so  warm  and  free  over  the  pale, 
still  corpse,  as  the  minister's.  There  is  no  bond  in 
the  world  more  pure  and  beautiful  than  his,  as  it  is 
woven  into  all  the  other  great  bonds  that  hold 
human  creatures  or  immortal  spirits  in  one. 

Towards  the  immortal  our  elder  pastor  now  pe- 
culiarly looks.     In  many  a  forward,  upward  line  of 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  51 

thought  and  expectation,  -we,  that  are  younger  and 
less  experienced  than  he  is,  and  have  not  known 
those  with  whom  he  has  been  acquainted,  may  not 
be  able  to  travel  with  him ;  but  into  the  history  of 
this  religious  Society,  that  stretches  back  of  him  and 
us  all  alike,  we  may  by  the  path  of  the  record  go 
together. 

My  friendly  hearers,  the  brief  limits  of  pulpit 
discourse  will  allow  me  to  do  no  more,  by  way  of 
the  historic  recollection  I  have  proposed,  than  faintly 
to  sketch  the  characters  of  those  who  have  gone 
before  the  present  ministers  in  the  duties  of  the 
Christian  ministry  to  this  religious  body.  As,  on 
great  occasions  of  solemn  commemoration,  or  ovation 
and  triumph,  among  the  nations  of  the  Old  World, 
the  images  of  heroes  were  borne  in  procession,  and 
are  by  the  magic  of  art,  in  some  of  its  finest  re- 
mains, preserved  to  us,  painted  or  sculptured  in  the 
rock  as  in  actual  motion,  so  I  shall  barely  attempt  to 
make  the  faces  of  our  worthies  pass  and  flash  for  a 
moment  into  view.  As  the  great  reason  why  a  na- 
tion should  rejoice  that  it  has  a  history,  and  rejoice 
in  recounting  that  history,  is  that  it  may  be  stimu- 
lated to  new  achievements  of  dignity  as  it  breathes 
over  again  the  spirit  of  its  fathers  and  founders  ;  so 
for  the   same  reason  should  a  church   be   glad  to 

t 


52  ANNIVERSARY   DISCOURSE. 

revive  its  annals,  and  deepen  the  inscription  of  its 
mighty  names,  that  they  may  last  in  the  hearts,  and 
inspire  the  worthy  eiForts,  of  men  when  gravestones 
can  hold  them  no  longer.     The  glorious  history  of 
your  Society  was  named  in  my  letter,  nineteen  years 
ago,  as  among  the  motives  inclining  me  to  accept 
your  invitation,  as  I  began,  somewhat  curiously  in 
my  service  among  you,  almost  precisely  the  second 
century  of  that  history.     Let  the  poor  delineations, 
to  which  alone  my  pen  is  equal,  do  something  for 
our  common   advantage  in  a  fresh  feeling   of  the 
bonds  that  bind  us  together,  to  explain  the  meaning 
of  that  motive.    *'  One  generation  passeth  away,  and 
another  generation  cometh ;  but  the  earth  abideth  for 
ever,"  saith  the  preacher.   So  a  religious  society,  the 
most  glorious  thing  on  this  earth,  constitutes  in  all 
time,  long  as  it  endures,  a  grand  —  shall  I  not  say  in- 
comparably grand  ?  —  unity.    He  that  properly  speaks 
of  it,  or  to  it,  has  in  mind  not  only  its  present  mem- 
bers, but  the  past  and  future,  —  its  whole  life  and 
heritage  on  earth  and  in  heaven.     I  have  read  assi- 
duously in  the  general  chronicles  of  the  times,  and  I 
have  explored  carefully  the  publications  of  the  pas- 
tors of  the  West  Church,  for  this  purpose  of  comme- 
moration ;  but  I  shall  have  little  room  for  referring 
to  authorities,  verifying  dates,  and  making  quota- 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE  5o 

tions  of  biographical  details,  save  simply  to  extract 
from  them  the  coloring  matter  for  the  portraits  I 
would  present.  I  shall  pay  my  respect  to  the  facts, 
not  by  being  what  is  called  a  man  of  facts,  heaping 
them  on  paper  together,  useful  and  indispensable 
office  as  that  may  sometimes  be,  and  greatly  as  I 
myself  respect  it ;  but  only  in  the  spirit  and  essence 
I  can,  by  my  attentive  perusal,  press  out  of  their 
accumulation  :  for  it  is  the  actors  I  would  call  up ; 
not  all  their  words  or  actions,  but  only  such  incidents 
and  expressions  as  may  denote  them  truly  what 
manner  of  men  they  were.  As  it  has  been  thought 
there  was  some  mysterious  art  by  which  the  Prophet 
Samuel  re-appeared  to  Saul ;  so  we  may  spiritually 
try,  by  an  art  beyond  all  ancient  or  modern  magic, 
to  see  our  former  prophets.  I  may  be  able  to  restore 
only  the  shadow,  not  the  substance,  —  "  the  smallest 
part  and  least  proportion  of  humanity."  For  one  at 
least  I  shall  have  to  present,  of  whom  — 


"  I  tell  you,  were  the  whole  frame  here, 
It  is  of  such  a  spacious,  lofty  pitch. 
Your  roof  were  not  sufficient  to  contain  it' 


I  believe,  that,  without  panegyric,  I  state  the  simple, 
unexaggerated  fact,  when  I  say  that  all  the  mini- 
sters of  this  Society,  of  whom  I  shall  speak,  have 

6* 


54  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

been  distinguished  for  certain  grand  common  traits, 
seldom  perfectly  united  in  the  same  character,  for 
independence  and  liberality,  for  bold  dissent  from 
prevailing  opinions,  ■v^rith  complete  charity,  and  for 
manly  assertion  of  the  la"^s  of  reason,  with  child- 
like openness  to  the  inspirations  of  faith. 

Little,  therefore;  in  this  service,  remains  for  me 
to  say,  as  I  have  declined  the  task,  however  in  other 
circumstances  necessary  as  well  as  honorable,  of 
analyzing  the  mind,  or  describing  the  character,  of 
my  senior  in  this  associated  ministry.  The  events 
indeed,  in  the  parish,  that  have  transpired  during 
the  last  fifty  years,  in  all  that  has  been  done  and 
suffered  by  the  now  wearied  laborer,  with  the  mem- 
bers of  his  charge  or  with  his  compeers  in  the  field, 
might  furnish  some  tempting  topics  to  a  pen  which 
no  scrupulous  sensibility  should  check,  no  sober 
thought  lift  from  the  sheet  on  which  it  wrote.  But, 
be  it  from  a  just  instinct,  or  a  too  fearful  restraint, 
some  of  these  events  I  cannot  deem  yet  a  fit  subject 
of  public  history,  —  cherish  as  we  should,  in  all 
modest  ways,  their  memorials.  Nor,  sustaining  the 
same  relation  to  you  with  my  sire  in  wisdom  as  in 
years,  does  it  become  me  to  advert  to  that,  in  the 
way  of  opening  at  any  length  my  particular  under- 
standing of  its  obligations,  which,  in  reference   to 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  55 

his  own  interpretation  of  them,  he  has  with  a  se- 
rious simplicity  and  constancy  discharged. 

But,  to  the  greeting  I  have  already,  in  your  name, 
given  him,  I  may  be  permitted,  in  closing,  to  add 
some  expression  of  the  love  for  him  you  have  enter- 
tained. You  have  so  often  in  private,  and  in  your 
joint  action  as  a  Society,  declared  and  proved  this 
love,  that  it  would  be  the  most  needless  of  super- 
erogations, and  to  him  most  unacceptable  of  offices, 
for  me,  on  my  part,  to  undertake  in  any  way  to  com- 
municate to  him  of  it  any  information.  But  as  it 
is  possible  that  even  my  poor  words  at  this  time  may 
be  remembered  or  quoted,  so  as  to  come  into  some 
general  report  beyond  the  limits  of  these  parochial 
precincts,  I  may  be  allowed  to  stand  here  a  public 
witness  of  the  affection  which  this  Christian  body 
has  cherished  for  its  elder  pastor.  From  the  pecu- 
liar position  I  have  held  here  among  you,  no  one  I 
humbly  conceive,  can  be  a  better,  more  unsuspicious 
witness  of  it  than  myself.  For  nearly  twenty  years 
I  have  been  spectator  of  the  close  sympathy,  and 
auditor  of  the  long  account  of  charity,  between  you 
and  him.  May  I  not  without  offence  say  that  I 
have,  with  such  little  strength  for  hard  work  as  God 
has  given  me,  even  assisted  in  a  transmission  of  the 
tributes  you  have  rendered  him,  and,  upon  the  com- 


56  ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE. 

mon  hearthstone  of  our  great  family,  have  been  busy 
in  tending  the  fire  of  ardent  feeling  that  has  bright- 
ened his  countenance,  while  it  has  warmed  and 
cheered  you  all  ?  I  have  accepted  it  as  my  place 
to  be  forward  only  to  second  his  exertiojis;  to  toil 
for  you  where  he  could  not ;  to  take  the  services  his 
failing  energies  left ;  and,  when  the  visitation  of  God 
touched  with  sickness  as  well  as  infirmity  his  outward 
frame,  I  have  had  it  for  my  care  to  stand  wherever 
you  pleased  in  his  place,  and  answer  your  innume- 
rable inquiries  after  his  welfare,  esteeming  it  a  hap- 
piness of  my  own  to  carry  kindly  messages  between 
his  chamber  and  your  homes.  I  therefore  know, 
and  may  not  unworthily  offer  testimony  of  the  fact, 
that  the  great  heart  of  this  West  Church  has  beat 
high  with  good-will  towards  him.  Whoever,  at  a 
post  such  as  that  it  is  my  privilege  to  occupy,  may 
have  found  the  old  pastoral  tie  weakened,  the  com- 
pany of  worshippers  alienated,  and  longing  for  change, 
I  for  one,  at  my  coming,  on  the  contrary,  met  only 
with  pre-engaged  affections  and  pre-occupied  hearts  ; 
and  I  have  often  thought  that  the  bond  between  our 
great  Head  and  the  whole  church,  of  which  holy 
writ  discovers  a  type  in  that  between  a  husband 
and  his  wife,  was,  by  the  contract  between  the  two 
parties  here,  realized  through  the  strong  absorbing 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  57 

personal  sentiment  in  which  they  both  have  so  much 
lived,  even  to  the  hour  of  this  golden  wedding. 

If  one  throb  of  my  own  heart  may  mix  with  the 
swelling  joy  of  this  occasion,  I  can  only  thank  God 
that  a  people,  so  embraced  and  provided  for,  has 
looked  not  unkindly  or  jealously  upon  another, 
called  to  do  the  same  ministerial  work,  according 
to  his  poor  faculty,  after  a  manner  in  some  respects 
widely  diverse,  yet  in  a  connection  itself  so  sacred 
and  pure  as  to  exclude  no  number  of  fellow-workers 
who  can  join  hands  in  peace  and  mingle  voices  in 
harmony.  My  friends,  I  can  utter  to  you  no  words, 
of  course,  or  have  aught  to  do  with  any  hollowness, 
that  may  ever  be  supposed  to  attach  to  public  and 
formal  expressions  or  resolutions.  The  truth,  that 
holds  the  honor  of  the  man,  binds  the  conscience 
of  the  preacher  ;  and,  truly,  I  declare  the  union  of 
pastors  here  to  have  been  not  unblessed.  A  col- 
leagueship  in  the  ministry  has  sometimes,  on  account 
of  the  peculiar  and  unparalleled  delicacy  of  the  rela- 
tion, and  the  position  more  laborious  than  any  lonely 
one  for  him  that  assumes  it,  been  styled  an  evil 
invention.  Such,  in  this  case,  I  am  sure  it  has  not 
been,  but,  as  I  resolved,  nothing  other  than  an 
assistance  to  him  who  was  your  shepherd  before  I 
was  born ;  and  whatever  hardship  or  discipline  may 


58  ANNIVEKSARY    DISCOUESE. 

have  arisen  in  my  own  lot,  because  some  of  the 
privileges  or  confidences,  which  are  the  natural 
rewards  and  encouragements  of  ministerial  labor, 
belonged  inalienably  to  another,  I  do  not  regret,  but 
believe  to  have  been  wisely,  as  well  as  necessarily, 
appointed  for  my  own  defence  and  well-being. 
With  my  senior  in  this  ministry,  and  with  any 
responsive  soul  in  these  seats  filled  from  yonder 
dwellings,  having  exercised  among  you  a  ministry 
than  which  few  can  have  been  harder  or  happier,  I 
will  therefore,  in  fine,  unite  to  extol  the  tie  itself 
between  pastor  and  people,  involve  whatever  pains 
and  privations  it  may,  —  and  pains  and  privations 
enter  into  every  relation  of  life,  —  as  among  the 
grandest  and  most  gracious  that  human  beings  can 
own.  I  devoutly  thank  God  for  the  precious  and 
holy  friendships  to  which  it  has  introduced  me. 
Sooner  would  I  part  with  the  apple  of  my  eye,  and 
the  hearing  of  my  ear,  and  the  breath  of  my  life, 
than  surrender  them.  I  thrill  with  joy  to  feel  their 
everlasting  cords,  with  double  hold,  drawing  me 
towards  heaven,  while  they  steady  my  little  restless 
bark  on  the  waves  of  time.  Your  minister's  un- 
ceasing efforts  are  encouraged  by  friendly  words, 
which  the  spirit  continues  to  hear  long  after  they 
are  uttered,  and  by  sympathetic  looks,  whose  mean 


ANNIVERSARY    DISCOURSE.  59 

ing  is  returned  to  you  out  of  his  own  deepest  pul- 
sations. His  appearances  before  you  will  have 
whatever  liffht  vour  countenances  have  for  him. 
His  solitude  is  made  social  with  images  from  your 
dwellings,  and  with  the  vision  of  many  faces  which 
eyes  of  flesh  can  nevermore  see  ;  and,  as  they 
cannot  see,  we  may  be  glad  to  exchange  eyes  of 
flesh  for  the  higher  vision  of  the  spiritual  body. 
While  we  love  each  other,  birth  and  death  shall 
show  us  only  Jacob's  ladder,  with  angels  ascending 
and  descendinc?. 


DISCOURSE  ON  WILLIAM  HOOPER. 


DISCOURSE  ON  WILLIAM  HOOPER. 


Psalm   xl.   9  :    "I    have    preached    righteousness    in    the 

GREAT    CONGREGATION." 


I  TAKE  these  words,  so  expressive  of  the  mind  and 
spirit  of  a  great  and  honest  herald  of  moral  truth  to 
the  people,  as  a  description  substantially  true  of  the 
first  minister  of  West  Boston,  for  whom  this  church 
was  gathered,  or  who  was  himself  the  instrument  of 
gathering  it,  in  1737, — just  one  hundred  and  nine- 
teen years  ago.  If  I  may  judge  from  the  notices  of 
him  I  have  seen,  and  still  more  from  his  published 
writings  which  I  have  read,  he  was  a  man  of  natural 
nobility  of  spirit  and  vigor  of  mind,  joining  cleai- 
method  of  thought  to  fine  eloquence  of  diction. 

After  a  nine-years'  ministry,  to  the  surprise  and 
grief  of  his  people.  Hooper  suddenly  sundered 
his  relation  with  them,  and  entered  the  Episcopal 


64  DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER. 

church.  How  far  he  may  have  been  attracted  by 
the  ecclesiastical  form  and  order  of  the  English 
communion  which  he  adopted,  I  cannot  say ;  but 
probably  not  much,  if  at  all :  for,  as  he  appears  not 
to  have  been  a  Calvinist,  but  an  Arminian,  and  at 
one  time  to  have  given  offence  to  some  of  the  Con- 
gregational ministers  by  the  want  of  orthodoxy  in  a 
sermon  he  preached  at  the  Thursday  Lecture,  giving 
rise  to  a  correspondence  between  them  and  himself, 
he  may  have  retired  to  escape  from  that  narrow  court 
of  sectarian  intolerance,  whose  arbitrary  indictments 
and  severe  judgments  are  offensive  to  none  so  much 
as  to  men  of  native  faculty,  with  the  power  and  love 
of  free  thought,  like  himself.  This  correspondence, 
which  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Historical  Society 
in  this  city,  I  have  thoroughly  examined,  and  copied 
for  the  Appendix  to  this  Discourse  a  letter  of 
Hooper.  From  the  whole  tone  of  the  correspond- 
ence, I  should  judge,  that,  though  it  did  not  of  itself 
produce  any  permanent  alienation  of  feeling,  it  yet 
did  indicate  a  spiritual  atmosphere  not  congenial  to 
a  man  of  a  spirit  so  fine,  an  independence  so  instinc- 
tive, as  that  of  Hooper,  and  from  which,  therefore, 
afterwards  he  may  have  chosen  to  withdraw.  His 
offence  lay  in  his  assertion  of  a  more  liberal  idea  of 
the  divine  attributes  than  then  prevailed ;  implying. 


DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER.  65 

as  his  brethren  were  sensitive  to  conclude,  that, 
in  their  doctrines  of  the  Divine  Holiness  and  Grace, 
they  had  represented  God  as  being  of  a  severe 
and  revengeful  disposition.  In  breadth  of  ideas,  and 
magnanimity  of  temper,  I  think  he  was  far  before 
them  ;  and  the  letters  written  on  their  part  expressly 
give  him  credit  for  education  and  ability,  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  those  of  any  of  his  associates  ;  though 
they  insinuate  that  he  was  too  much  of  a  free- 
thinker, and  had  been  a  too  copious  reader  of 
the  books  put  forth  by  the  free  thought  of  the 
times. 

It  makes  one  gravely  smile  and  sigh  in  the  same 
moment  to  look  back  and  see,  while  the  strides  of 
man's  improvement  have  been  revolutions  of  the 
world,  what  pains  and  tears  the  slightest  steps  of  his 
progress  have  cost.  Every  hair-breadth  forward  has 
been  in  the  agony  of  some  soul ;  and  our  humanity 
has  reached  blessing  after  blessing  of  all  its  vast 
achievement  of  good  with  bleeding  feet.  I  claim  not 
Hooper,  indeed,  as  one  of  the  great  reformers,  who 
are  voices  in  the  wilderness  of  successive  ages,  and 
leaders  of  vast  and  endless  populations  of  men ;  but 
I  do  rank  him  in  the  class  of  intellectual  and  reli- 
gious pioneers.  Though  he  seemed  to  go  back  when 
he  joined  the  establishment,  he  really  went  forwai'd ; 

6* 


66  DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER. 

as  the  apparent  retrogradation  of  a  planet  is  an 
actual  speeding,  with  undiminished  velocity,  on 
its  way. 

We  need  to  be  always  warned  against  unduly 
exalting  our  favorites,  or  indecently  depressing  their 
opponents  ;  and  justice  to  the  dead  is  a  duty  of  the 
more  peculiar  moment  and  incomparable  obligation, 
as  the  dead  do  not  appear  to  reply  to  our  allegations. 
I  therefore  will  not  let  the  least  shadow  of  unfair- 
ness fall  from  my  pen  upon  those  who,  in  the  matter 
I  have  referred  to,  called  my  predecessor  to  account. 
In  applauding  the  venturesome  spirits  who  would 
cheer  or  spur  mankind  onward  to  better  regions, 
which  their  solitary  thought  as  the  only  traveller  has 
visited,  we  must  not  too  hotly  blame  those  who  have 
served  as  a  perhaps  safe  and  necessary  drag  on  the 
world's  motion.  The  advance  of  the  race  on  earth 
is  always,  and  was,  no  doubt,  providentially  intended 
to  be,  a  resultant  of  conflicting  forces,  as  every  star 
in  heaven  gets  on  from  the  strife  of  centripetal  with 
centrifugal  tendencies.  Or,  if  I  may  risk  a  more 
humble  illustration,  of  which  I  am  oftener  reminded, 
the  many  human  agents,  moving  each  in  his  own 
way  towards  the  providential  end,  resemble  the  lines 
of  the  mathematician's  problem  upon  the  board  to 
his  scholars,  which,  representing  forces  that  run  in 


DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER.  67 

many  directions,  are  yet  to  be  resolved  into  one 
power,  and  concentrated  upon  a  single  result.  So  is 
it  in  the  mighty  world  of  matter  ;  so  is  it  in  the 
mightier  world  of  mind.  And,  while  I  sympathize 
and  accord  with  Hooper  alone,  I  must  honestly  say 
that  the  correspondence  with  him  on  the  part  of 
those  who  had  waited  upon  him  for  conversation  or 
admonition,  though  severe  in  its  insinuations,  was 
carried  on  with  as  much  kindness,  so  far  as  I  can 
see,  as  their  actual,  though  it  may  be  not  perfectly 
enlightened,  moral  sense  would  allow. 

Whether  in  the  theoretical  creed  of  the  new  en- 
closure he  found  a  refuge  or  not,  he  no  doubt  found 
a  larger  accommodation  of  practical  liberty  in  a 
church  whose  ritual  genius  is  to  include  as  many 
as  possible ;  unlike  the  dogmatic  genius  of  the  old, 
stern.  Puritanic  faith,  which  came  to  winnow  the 
world,  whose  fan  was  always  in  its  hand,  and  which, 
in  the  business  of  purifying  and  separating,  has  at 
times  inadvertently  thrown  away  some  of  the  largest 
kernels  of  the  wheat.  Like  the  son,  whose  clear 
signature  is  found  on  the  American  declaration  of 
political  independence,  William  Hooper,  the  father, 
probably  by  his  act  virtually  meant  to  assert  in  his 
person  the  religious  rights  of  the  mind ;  and  his 
declaration  of  a   grander  independence   came  first. 


68  DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER 

I  fancy  he  went,  according  to  an  old  motto,  always 
for  things,  not  words  ;  and  it  mattered  not  to  him 
that  the  Congregationalists  stoutly  affirmed,  nay, 
generally  vindicated  and  rescued,  Freedom,  if  in  any 
instance  they  violated  her  spirit  and  law.  From 
earlier  and  later  doings,  we  have  learned  that  the 
brethren  may  be  as  tyrannical  as  the  bishops,  and 
one  be  sentenced  by  his  peers  no  less  unmercifully 
than  by  his  lords.  Hooper's  own  church  would,  no 
doubt,  have  sustained  and  kept  him :  but  a  local 
church  then  was  more  entangled  with  and  subjected 
to  others  around  it  than,  thank  God,  it  is  now,  or  ever 
can  be  again ;  and  I  can  well  conceive  the  lofty 
motion  of  a  generous  spirit  with  which  our  first 
pastor  departed,  rather  than  expose  his  friends  to 
inconvenience  on  his  account,  though  tears  were 
doubtless  in  his  eyes,  as  well  as  theirs,  upon  his 
going.  He  very  likely  had  no  taste  for  the  "  con- 
scientious contention  "  which  a  great  man  has  reck- 
oned as  existing  among  the  nobler  characteristics  of 
our  theological  forefathers,  and  could  not  abide  a 
too  rigid  and  uncompromising  inquisition,  as  I  am 
very  glad  he  could  not,  into  his  private  opinions. 
Certainly  I  find  touches  of  this  large  and  magni- 
ficent temper  in  his  compositions,  which,  for  all  our 
boasted  progress,  in  their  broad  stroke  exceed  many 


DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER.  69 

of  the  most  lauded  and  popular  discourses  of  the 
present  day. 

On   the    whole.    Hooper   appears    to    have    been 
marked    by    qualities   uncommonly   individual    and 
sincere.      In    him,    in    an    age    of   dogmatism    and 
harsh  judgment,  the  Christian  was  not  lost  in  the 
sectarian;    and,  at  a  time  when  the  distinctions  of 
scholastic  faith  often  confounded  the  instincts  of  the 
heart,  the  theologian  did  not  overpower  the  man. 
His    very   hand-writing,    much    bolder    and    more 
legible  than  the  small  and  interlined  epistles  of  half- 
inquiry    and    half-arraignment    addressed    to    him, 
which    I    confess    I   find    it    somewhat    difficult    to 
make   out,  is   emblematic  of  the  large  character  of 
reason  and  humanity  in  the  moral  sentences  tran- 
scribed from  his  mind.     I  find  something,  perhaps, 
characteristic  of  him  in  general,  in  a  curious  mixture 
of  strong  humor  with  holy  indignation,  in  his  writing, 
in  an  epistle  to  a  brother  minister  who  was  about  to 
admit  to   the  communion-table  a  woman  of  whose 
ill-desert  Hooper  was  cognizant,  that  it  would  he  more 
proper  to  take  her  to  the  whipping-post.     If  he  had 
faults,  of  which  the  register  does  not  appear,  though 
some  may  think  his  desertion  of  his  people  implied 
them,  I  am  confident  they  were  not  those  of  hypo- 
crisy or  double-dealing  in  any  form ;  and  his  sum- 


70  DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER. 

mary  leave-taking  of  his  charge  perhaps  only  indicated 
a  nature  whose  first  necessity,  like  that  of  all  great 
natures,  was  conformity  between  its  action  and  its 
thought. 

The  alienation  of  men  from  each  other,  on  account 
of  different  convictions  of  truth,  is  strangely  com- 
plicated with  difierences  of  early  association,  intel- 
lectual training,  and  personal  temperament ;  and  all 
these  causes,  no  doubt,  had  their  full  share  of  in- 
fluence in  causing  Hooper  to  diverge  from  the 
fellowship  of  the  Boston  fraternity,  of  which,  for  a 
time,  he  formed  a  part.  In  the  slight  portraiture  I 
have  made  of  him  from  the  meagre  hints  left  us,  as 
a  few  pen-marks  sometimes  succeed  in  giving  a 
tolerable  likeness,  I  have  watched  carefully  against 
exaggeration,  knowing  how  easily  we  clothe  those 
we  discourse  about,  and  are  connected  with,  and  so 
inclined  to  commend,  with  a  plumage  of  moral 
beauty,  finer  and  softer  than  before  the  eyes  of  men 
they  actually  wore.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not  think 
I  have  ascribed  to  my  first  predecessor  more  than 
his  fair  deserts :  to  do  as  much  as  this,  I  have  con- 
sidered to  be  my  providential  duty  at  this  time.  It 
is  our  special  call  to  do  justice  to  those  who  belong 
to  us,,  and  to  provide  for  the  proper  and  worthy 
fame  of  our  own  household  of  faith  and  worship,  as 


DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER.  71 

well  as  for  the  mortal  sustenance  of  the  inmates  of 
our  dwelling.  Who  will  mete  out  to  them  the 
equitable  judgment  if  we  do  not  ?  In  this  hurrying 
world,  but  for  our  pious  care,  their  names,  in  some 
cases,  would  be  no  more  retraced  or  recollected  than 
their  deep-sunk  bones  and  ashes  would  be  disturbed. 
The  chisel,  I  think,  has  as  worthy  a  use,  in  sharp- 
ening some  old  worn  or  moss-grown  inscription, 
as  in  finishing  the  last  and  most  showy  invention  of 
the  day.  Pardon  me,  if,  with  something  more  than 
a  cold  office  of  local  or  professional  obligation,  yea, 
even  with  a  zeal  and  labor  of  love,  I  regard  it  as  my 
business  to  revive  the  memory  of  those  who  have 
toiled  and  endured  and  died  in  the  service  of  this 
church ;  doing  for  your  spiritual  ancestors,  as  they 
frequented  their  houses  or  stood  forth  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, what  their  successors  have  humbly  striven  to 
do  for  you.  A  willing  instrument,  indeed,  I  am  for 
their  honor ;  but  you  will  believe  that  to  their 
honor  my  conscience  is  bound  to  render  the  not  un- 
measured, but  scrupulous,  award.  If  their  exalted 
spirits  attend  to  our  sayings,  as  I  not  seldom  feel 
they  overhear  us,  may  they  be  not  unpleased  ! 
Above  all,  may  the  Great  and  Good  Spirit,  that 
surely  sees  and  hears,  approve  and  bless  ! 


72 


APPENDIX 


DISCOURSE     ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER. 


It  had  been  my  design,  by  the  kind  permission  of  the 
officers  of  the  Historical  Society,  to  copy  the  entire  cor- 
respondence, so  far  as  preserved,  with  Mr.  Hooper, 
relating  to  his  supposed  heresy,  or  reflection  upon  the 
superstition  of  other  preachers,  regarding  the  attributes 
of  God ;  but,  after  a  careful  examination,  I  do  not  see 
that  there  would  be  any  object  accomplished  important 
enough  to  compensate  for  the  labor  and  space  required  in 
transferring  to  these  pages  so  much  matter.  The  points 
in  debate  are  stated,  and  the  inquisition  into  his  views 
sufficiently  implied,  in  his  own  letter.  I  have  another 
reason,  —  that  while  Hooper's  words,  clear  and  bold  as  his 
thoughts,  are  entirely  legible,  so  that  he  who  runs  can 
read  them,  I  have  been  quite  unable  to  decipher  several 
of  the  expressions  in  the  fine  chirography  of  the  epistles  — 
sometimes  interlined,  and  with  paragraphs  crossed  out,  as 
though  they  were  composed  with  much  calculation  and 
painstaking  revision  —  addressed  to  him.  As  I  do  not  copy 
these  letters,  let  me  do  them  the  justice  of  saying  they 


APPENDIX    TO    DISCOURSE    ON    WM.    HOOPER.        73 

appear  to  me  to  have  originatedJtrom  just  and  candid 
motives,  though,  as  I  think,  exaggerating  the  impor- 
tance of  theological  agreement,  in  words  and  dogmas, 
among  ministers,  and  seeming  to  assume  a  kind  of 
censorship,  whose  benevolent  and  well-wishing  tone  can- 
not make  it  wholly  acceptable  to  any  one  who  feels  that 
he  has  formed  his  opinions  conscientiously  in  the  fear 
of,  and  with  willing  responsibility  to,  God. 

Whether  I  am  right  in  the  belief  that  the  disagreeable- 
ness  of  this  doctrinal  congregational  inspection  so  wrought 
in  Hooper's  mind  as  to  cause  his  leaving  the  whole  cleri- 
cal body  he  had  been  associated  with,  as  he  could  only 
do  by  leaving  his  own  church,  I  leave  others  to  make  up 
their  minds  as  freely  as  I  have  my  own.  There  seems 
to  be  something  in  the  story,  as  we  read  it,  objectionable 
in  the  manner  of  Hooper's  departure  ;  but  I  am  persuaded 
the  charitable  is  the  true  construction  of  his  inducements 
to  a  step  so  sudden,  and  which  to  us  appears  so  secret. 
Those  who  might  be  able  to  explain  his  conduct  to  our 
perfect  understanding  and  satisfaction,  are,  on  earth,  dead 
like  himself.  Let  us  hope  those  of  his  own  flock  who 
might  have  been  hurt  at  his  going,  which  was  to  them  so 
great  a  loss,  are  now  alive  and  reconciled  with  him  in 
heaven.  Possibly  he  left  quietly  as  he  did  to  avoid  the 
trouble  and  public  discord  that  might  have  arisen  from 
publicity  in  the  trial,  with  all  its  circumstances,  of  his 
case ;  while  it  may  be  that  the  exigencies,  not  uncommon, 
of  a  vessel  that  is  to  set  sail,  may  have  hastened,  beyond 
his  own  anticipations,  his  voyage.  We  certainly  cannot 
suppose  he  would,  like  some  voyagers,  wish  to  leave,  as  he 
did,  on  the  Lord's  Day.  I  feel  confident  he  would  act 
honorably  to  those  from  whom  he  separated,  as  well  as  to 
those  with  whom  he  was  afterwards  connected. 

7 


74  APPENDIX    TO 

From  a  Letter  of  Mr.  Hooper  to  Mr.  Colman. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  that  my  sermon  gave  uneasiness  to 
you  and  the  ministers,  or  even  to  the  least  Christian ;  for  I 
remember  the  words  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  '  Woe  to  him 
that  ofFendeth  one  of  these  little  ones ! '  and,  I  assure  you, 
I  was  far  from  designing  to  trouble  anybody.  My  con- 
science bears  me  witness  that  my  great  and  only  view  was 
to  vindicate  the  divine  character  from  the  false  and  mean 
imputations  of  superstitious  men ;  and  did  it  appear  to  me 
that  any  thing  I  said  was  unjust  to  the  adorable  name  of 
God,  and  served  to  lead  men  astray  in  their  notions  or 
worship  of  him,  I  should  be  the  first  to  condemn  myself; 
for  upon  right  conceptions  of  the  Supreme  Being  depend 
all  religion  and  morality,  all  the  peace  and  happiness  of 
mankind.  But,  upon  a  serious  review  of  my  notes,  I  must 
say  that  I  think  I  have  been  misunderstood ;  for  nothing 
appears  to  me  deserving  the  displeasure  of  an  attentive  and 
candid  hearer.  As  to  the  impropriety  of  some  words  I  may 
have  used  in  speaking  of  God,  or  the  mean  composure  of 
the  discourse,  I  am  ready  to  confess  that  both  my  lan- 
guage and  manner  of  prosecuting  a  subject  are  far  from 
being  able  to  bear  the  examination  of  but  an  indifferent 
judge ;  but,  as  to  the  thoughts  I  delivered,  I  think  they 
are  agreeable  to  Sacred  Scripture,  and  to  the  opinions 
of  the  greatest,  and  even  of  such  as  are  generally  es- 
teemed Orthodox,  divines.  Particularly,  I  do  not  find  the 
least  in  any  one  part  of  my  sermon  that  the  doctrines  of 
grace  and  holiness,  as  preached  in  this  country,  serve  to  lead 
the  people  into  apprehensions  of  God  as  a  peevish,  vin- 
dictive, or  revengeful  Being.  I  do  not  mention  one  word 
of  the  way  of  preaching  here ;  and  I  assure  you,  sir,  it 
was  not  in  my  thoughts,  either  at  the  composing  or  de- 


DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER.  75 

livering  of  the  discourse.  I  have  heard  gentlemen  here 
preach  of  the  grace  and  holiness  of  God  in  a  manner 
very  agreeable  to  me ;  and  particularly  I  am  pleased  with 
what  I  have  heard  Mr.  Colman  preach  upon  these  sub- 
jects, and  with  what  you  write  in  your  letter  now  before 
me.  As  to  the  behavior  of  some,  when  any  thing  ex- 
traordinary comes  to  pass  in  the  course  of  nature  or  in  the 
government  of  the  world,  I  say  that  some  men  are  so 
weak  and  ignorant  as  to  think  that  upon  such  occasions 
God  is  in  a  terrible  anger,  and  so  are  induced  to  fear 
him  :  but  they  fear  him  not  as  a  just  and  righteous  Judge, 
but  as  a  cruel,  powerful  Being ;  not  so  as  to  be  deterred 
from  their  evil  courses,  but  so  as  to  make  amends  for  a 
debauched  and  vicious  life  by  idle,  external  observances. 
But  there  is  not  the  smallest  insinuation  that  wicked  men 
ought  not  to  be  afraid  of  the  divine  judgments,  or  that 
the  best  of  men  ought  not  upon  such  occasions  to  reflect 
upon  and  examine  their  lives,  in  order  to  see  whether  or 
not  they  may  have  had  a  hand  in  bringing  these  calami- 
ties upon  the  world.  And  I  think  Pharaoh  and  his 
people,  and  all  wicked  men,  should  tremble  at  the  judg- 
ments of  God,  and  be  induced  thereby  to  fly  to  his  mercy 
through  Christ,  and  cry  for  pardon.  But  what  I  call 
superstition  is  their  praying  to  God  for  salvation,  at  the 
same  time  that  they  have  no  resolution  nor  heart  to  for- 
sake their  sins ;  and  that  there  are  such  people,  I  believe 
nobody  doubts.  As  for  Moses,  his  trembling  at  the  foot 
of  Sinai,  with  submission,  sir,  I  know  not  if  it  is  men- 
tioned to  his  honor.  I  have  not  time  to  examine  the 
justness  of  the  thought.  It  is  thought  a  pious  and  noble 
sentiment  of  the  Psalmist,  '  Though  the  mountains 
should  be  moved,  and  the  hills  cast  into  the  midst  of 
the  sea,'  &c. 


76  APPENDIX    TO 

"  I  read  with  great  satisfaction  what  you  wrote  upon 
the  righteousness  and  mercy  of  God  ;  and  indulge  me 
in  saying  that  I  think  I  am  of  the  same  opinion  with 
yourself  with  respect  to  these  grand  points.  God  is  a 
Being  of  infinite  mercy ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  never 
pardons  or  passes  by  sin  without  full  satisfaction  to  his 
rectoral  holiness,  as  you  express  it.  A  God  that  forgives 
sin  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  discourage  it,  or  without 
regard  to  the  honor  or  glory  of  his  wisdom,  righteousness, 
or  justice,  is  not  the  God  of  the  Scriptures,  or  even  of 
natural  reason.  God  is  abundant  in  mercy,  and  jealous 
of  his  righteousness.  These  two,  I  think,  are  the  sum  of 
his  moral  character ;  and  they  render  him  sovereignly 
adorable,  and  sovereignly  amiable  ;  and  I  cannot  see 
any  thing  in  my  sermon  inconsistent  with  this  notion  of 
God.  When  I  say  that  some  men  think  of  him  as  a 
vindictive  and  revengeful  Being,  I  take  these  words  in 
the  sense  in  which  they  are  used  when  applied  to  men,  — 
revenge  for  revenge'  sake,  vengeance  for  vengeance'  sake, 
without  the  restraint  of  law  or  rule.  And  I  think  this 
my  meaning  is  so  plain,  that  I  wonder  any  uneasiness 
should  have  arisen  about  it.  And  I  declare  to  you  again, 
sir,  that  I  think  Scripture,  reason,  fact,  all  unite  in  pro- 
claiming the  justice  as  well  as  goodness  of  God  ;  that 
his  justice  must  be  satisfied,  as  his  goodness  gratified, 
when  he  pardons  sinners. 

"I  do  not  think  there  is  any  material  change  in  my 
principles  from  what  they  were  when  I  entered  into  the 
ministry  here,  and  from  what  I  professed  them  to  be. 
Why  some  people  think  there  is,  is  the  different  way  of 
expressing  myself,  which  arises  from  my  having  been 
educated  in  a  manner  different  from  the  education  of  this 
country,  and  from  my  having  dealt  in  the  reading  of  other 


DISCOURSE    ON    WILLIAM    HOOPER.  77 

books  than  what  are  commonly  read  at  the  university 
here.  As  to  accommodating  myself  to  pious  persons  and 
families,  I  am  sorry  there  should  be  any  complaint  in  this 
respect,  and  will  do  all  I  can  through  Divine  Grace  to 
please  them,  so  far  as  truth  and  religion  will  allow  me. 
The  cause  of  our  divine  Redeemer,  and  many  particular 
reasons,  oblige  me  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  serve  the 
people  of  this  town  ;  and  it  is  my  daily  prayer  to  God 
that  I  may  faithfully  discharge  my  office,  and  do  good 
to  this  people  as  they  have  shown  kindness  to  me.  If 
I  have  not  removed  your  uneasiness  by  what  I  have 
written  in  a  hurry,  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  do  it  ef- 
fectually when  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  conversing 
with  you.  There  is  no  difference  at  all,  I  think,  between 
your  sentiments  and  mine  ;  or,  if  there  is,  I  am  apt  to 
think  you'll  be  able  to  convince  me  of  the  justness  of 
your  thoughts,  you  having  weighed  things  with  more 
judgment  than  I  have  done.  As  to  some  that  are  hard 
and  uncharitable  in  their  censures,  I  pray  God  may  for- 
give them,  and  help  me  to  do  so  too.  Meantime,  I 
earnestly  beg  your  prayers  for  me  at  the  throne  of  Di- 
vine Grace ;  for  I  want  wisdom  and  all  other  graces 
becoming  my  condition  and  office. 

"I  am, 

"  Very  reverend  sir, 
"  Your  most  obliged  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  "Will.  Hooper. 

^' Boston,  Feb.  13th,  172g." 


7* 


NOTE    TO    PAGE    67. 


Since  -writing  the  above  Discourse  upon  Hooper,  I  have  met  with 
a  sentence  of  Macaulay,  which  strikingly  confirms  the  tenor  of  my 
remarks :  "  The  truth  is,  that,  from  the  time  of  James  the  First, 
that  great  party  which  has  been  peculiarly  zealous  for  the  Anglican 
polity,  and  the  Anglican  ritual,  has  always  leaned  strongly  towards 
Arminianism,  and  has,  therefore,  never  been  much  attached  to  a 
confession  of  faith  framed  by  reformers  who,  on  questions  of  meta- 
physical divinity,  generally  agreed  with  Calvin,"  —  Macaulay' s 
History  of  Englatid,  vol.  iii.  p.  85,  American  edition. 

Let  me  also  here  say,  that  some  further  references,  besides  those 
contained  in  the  Discourses  upon  Hooper  and  Mayhew,  wiU  be 
made  to  them,  in  another  connection,  in  the  Discourse  relating  to 
the  chxu-ch  itself. 


DISCOURSE   ON  DR.  MAYHEW. 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.   MAYHEW. 


John  V.  35:    "He   was  a   burning   and   a   siriNiNG   light.' 


I  CAN  think  of  no  words  better  than  these,  expres- 
sive of  the  warmth  and  illumination  which  are  the 
great  agencies  in  the  material  world,  to  shadow  forth 
the  clear  thought  and  fervent  spirit  of  that  man  for 
whom  this  church  seems  to  have  waited,  to  eman- 
cipate itself  into  perfect  independent  energy  for  wide 
influence,  and  to  make  its  pulpit  his  place  where  to 
stand,  and  shake  all  the  despotism  in  the  country 
and  the  world.  I  mean  Jonathan  Mayhew,  settled 
in  this  ministry  in  the  year  1747. 

I  have  often  wistfully  perused  his  features  in  the 
engraving  which,  it  is  said,  his  friend  the  noble 
Hollis,  of  England,  had  made  of  him,  to  see  how 
far  I  could  detect  in  it  the  lineaments  of  his  mind. 
If  I  did  not  know  from  what   livinsr  orisrinal  it  was 


82  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

taken,  I  think  it  would  yet  appear  to  me  the  por- 
trait of  a  capacious  intellect,  a  Avarm  and  open  soul, 
a  heart  earnest  to  give  and  take  sympathy,  and  a 
spirit  eager  to  assert  its  own  convictions,  and  main- 
tain the  principles  of  all  truth.  The  mitre,  which, 
holding  a  broken  crosier  wreathed  by  a  serpent, 
is  cast  down  under  him,  bespeaks  the  champion 
of  the  private  conscience  ;  but  the  venerable  ivy- 
grown  walls,  the  gray  old  stones,  on  which,  as  a 
background,  the  print  of  the  countenance  is  im- 
pressed, indicate  his  abiding  by  the  most  ancient 
temple  and  faith  of  God  and  Christ,  and  wishing  to 
overthrow  nothing  old  that  was  true  and  good,  but 
only  the  corruptions  that  had  encumbered  the  divine 
glory.  The  likeness,  once  seen,  like  those  of  all 
the  heroes  and  saints,  makes  its  individual  mark, 
stands  distinct  in  our  sj^iritual  gallery  of  portraits, 
and  can  no  more  be  forgotten  or  mistaken  than  that 
of  Washington  or  Luther.  As  the  artist  sometimes 
seems  to  succeed  in  representing  moving  things,  I 
think  I  can  almost  discern  a  forward,  impulsive 
motion,  symbolic  of  his  perpetually  active  life,  even 
in  its  cold,  still  lines. 

We  are  curious  to  know  something  of  the  family 
of  those  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  life. 
But  a  truly  great  man  always  appears  to  us  in  the 


DISCOUKSE    ON    DK.    MAYIIEW.  83 

depth  of  history,  as  wc  look  back  upon  him,  to  stand 
alone.  His  soul  is  "like  a  star,  and  dwells  apart." 
In  the  blaze  of  his  intellect,  hereditary  traces,  that  we 
commonly  see,  disappear.  Like  King  Melchisedec, 
as  it  is  told  in  Scripture,  he  appears  to  be  without 
father,  mother,  descent,  beginning  of  days,  or  end  of 
life.  Genius  ha's  no  parent  or  child  :  no  hereditary 
transmission  and  no  earthly  record  can  account  for 
its  appearance,  and  the  roots  of  no  genealogical  tree 
show  the  secret  of  the  splendid  flower.  It  comes 
and  is  gone,  like  that  vessel  Peter  speaks  of,  de- 
scending from  heaven,  and  drawn  up  again,  without 
antecedents  or  consequents.  Jonathan  Mayhew  was, 
however,  the  son  of  a  truly  good  and  fiuthful  man,  — 
Experience  Mayhew,  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  A 
highly  religious  strain  of  character  runs  tlu'ough  all 
his  ancestry ;  and  his  great-grandfather  was,  before 
the  Apostle  Eliot,  of  Roxbury,  missionary  to  the 
Indians  in  what  we  know  by  the  name  of  Martha's 
"\lneyard.  It  is  said,  when  this  ancestor  of  May- 
hew left  his  charge  to  sail  for  England,  the  Indians 
came  in  large  numbers  to  meet  and  bid  him  fare- 
well, and  that  the  spot  of  their  interview  was 
marked  by  a  cairn,  or  heap  of  stones,  upon  which 
every  Indian  as  he  passed  threw  another  stone,  to 
increase  the  monument  of  their  reverence  and  love. 


84  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

Upon  that  inconsiderable  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard 
was  born  Jonathan  Mayhew,  the  man  who  was  to  move 
both  continents  with  the  breath  of  his  mouth.  He 
came  into  the  world  in  the  year  1720,  — just  a  cen- 
tury after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  and  I  doubt 
not,  in  the  eye  of  Him  in  whose  hands  are  all  our  times, 
of  living  or  dying ;  who  orders  events,  and  sends 
his  rational  agents,  as  he  does  the  lightnings  and  the 
winds,  to  do  his  will,  —  the  birth  of  Mayhew  was  a 
i>ood  centennial  celebration  of  that  epoch,  whose 
meaning  in  his  after-years  he  did  so  much  to  fulfil. 
Like  a  flaw  in  the  most  splendid  work  of  nature  or 
art,  some  mean  vice  will  not  unfrequently  cross  and 
stain  the  intellectual  glory  of  the  most  famous  men, 
so  seldom  does  God  grant  to  us  any  thing  like  per- 
fection in  this  world.  But,  under  his  father's  pious 
care,  the  childhood  and  youth  of  Mayhew  appear  to 
have  been  as  spotless,  as  the  manhood,  that  so  strug- 
gled with  or  against  others,  was  irreproachable  by 
his  foes. 

After  a  full  and  long  and  calm  survey  of  his 
career,  I  must  unhesitatingly,  for  grandeur  of  aim, 
and  mighty  will  to  bring  to  pass  his  purposes,  put 
him  in  the  first  rank  of  human  spirits.  I  trust  it  is 
not  any  fondness  of  my  subject  that  makes  me  think 
of  him  as,  on  the  whole,  among  many  sons  of  honor  in 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  85 

the  depai'tment  of  religion  in  this  country,  the  great 
American  Divine.  Others  doubtless  have  excelled 
him  in  particular  points ;  as  Edwards  in  metaphysical 
talent,  and  Hopkins  in  application  to  theological 
studies ;  Channing  in  extent  of  moral  reflection,  and 
Buckminster  in  peculiar  charms  of  speech :  but,  in 
broad  relation  to  the  public  vrelfare,  in  power  to 
unseal  the  fountains  of  influence  into  rivers  which, 
like  mountain-streams,  determine  the  very  shape 
and  fashion  of  a  country,  he  conspicuously  trans- 
cended them  all. 

Cicero  intimates,  that  to  have  praise  from  men 
who  are  themselves  the  objects  of  praise,  is  the 
choicest  of  all  fame  ;  and,  humbly  as  it  is  necessary 
for  me  to  speak,  I  need  not  hesitate  to  proclaim  con- 
fidently so  lofty  an  estimate  of  one  whom  the  lead- 
ing spirits  of  the  time  joyfully  welcomed  as  their 
peer,  and  their  greatest  successors  have  quoted  as 
one  of  the  high  equals,  in  power  and  operative  virtue, 
that  have  adorned  our  whole  history.  I  can  but 
refer  in  an  instance  or  two  to  their  eulogies.  John 
Adams,  second  President  of  the  United  States,  speaks 
of  him  with  unqualified  admiration.  Judge  Paine, 
in  almost  an  ecstasy  of  panegyric,  declared  him  the 
father  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  Massachusetts 
and  America.     His  hand,  and  that  of  his  great  asso- 


86  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW, 

ciates  in  this  Commonwealth,  was  felt  at  the  helm  of 
our  bewildered  vessel  of  state,  before  the  voice  of 
Patrick  Henry,  in  Virginia,  was  heard  rising  above 
the  storm. 

He  had  a  truly  public  soul,  an  ability  in  action,  a 
genius  for  affairs,  which  made  him  the  worthy  com- 
peer of  all  the  civil  authors  of  our  national  free- 
dom and  fundamental  institutions ;  nor  does  the 
figure  of  the  elder  Samuel  Adams  or  Otis,  to  the 
retrospective  imagination,  stand  out  in  more  distinct 
relief,  on  the  canvas  that  shows  the  sublime  forms  of 
our  political  sires,  than  does  that  of  this  religious 
preacher  of  the  gospel  on  the  hallowed  and  ever- 
precious  spot  where  we  now  stand. 

He  was  great,  because  he  was  predestined  and 
commanded  to  be  great.  His  spiritual  intuitions 
furnished  and  urged  upon  him  the  uncorruptible 
substance  for  his  resistless  logic  to  shape  and  wield. 
Intuitions,  I  say ;  for  it  is  not  intellect,  or  pleasing 
sentiment,  or  fine  rhetoric,  wondrous  as  may  be 
their  displays  of  ingenuity  and  eloquence,  that  can 
make  the  great  man  :  it  is  rather  the  soul  beholding 
principles,  and  ready  to  stand  on  the  principles  it 
beholds,  at  whatsoever  cost,  and  though  it  alone  in  all 
the  world  take  the  position,  and  God  alone  of  all  the 
witnesses  in  the  world  comprehend  the  act.     So  the 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  87 

soul  of  Jonathan  May  hew  was  great.  Indeed,  so 
large  was  his  way  of  thinking,  so  piercing  his 
insight  into  original  truths,  so  wide  his  hearty  in- 
terest in  the  Commonwealth,  and  so  ardent  his  pa- 
triotic zeal  to  deliver  the  land  of  his  birth  from  all 
injustice,  and  break  every  rod  of  oppression,  that, 
ordained  and  set  apart  as  he  solemnly  was  to  a  par- 
ticular calling,  and  that  calling  one  of  hereditary 
choice  and  reverence  in  his  mind,  he  yet  could  not  be 
confined  to  any  peculiar  so-called  sacred  function,  or 
to  any  narrow  exercise  of  his  own  office,  even  with 
the  ministerial  robes  upon  him,  but  would  advance 
the  cause  of  his  fellow-citizens  in  all  possible  ways. 

His  was,  in  truth,  one  of  the  large  natures,  only 
occasionally  appearing  in  the  world,  which  can 
never  quite  submit  to*  any  understood  lines  drawn 
by  the  hand  of  man,  or  any  professional  or  customary 
circumscription.  He  was  ready  to  strike  a  blow  for 
truth  or  freedom,  wherever  at  the  time  it  might  be 
required,  in  Church  or  State.  Though  not  a  pietist, 
he  was,  however,  profoundly  and  ardently  religious. 
Though  not  a  canonical  saint,  he  was  from  the  begin- 
ning blamelessly  pure,  and,  as  one  expresses  it,  "  sanc- 
tified from  his  birth."  One  imagines  easily  that  his 
thought  or  heart,  feet  or  hands,  would  have  been 
equally  ready  for  any  service  to  his  fellow-creatures  j 


88  DISCOUESE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

that,  where  he  moved  at  all,  it  would  certainly  be  not 
lukewarmly,  but  with  zeal,  doing  with  his  might 
what  he  found  to  do  ;  and  that  he  would  have  burned 
with  the  flame  of  every  great  emergency.  In  spirit, 
though  in  no  literal  way,  he  was  a  knight-templar ; 
and  there  seems  to  be  a  clangor  of  arms  in  his  very 
words.  An  imperial  guard  always  lay  in  his  soul, 
ready  for  a  crisis  in  the  battle. 

From  this  earthly  stage  of  time  most  of  the  actors 
retire,  no  more  remembered  after  they  cease  to  be 
seen ;  but  the  great  performers,  as  mighty  shadows 
and  ghosts  that  will  not  down,  keep  their  footing, 
with  visionary  pace,  up  and  down  on  the  broad  floor 
of  this  sublunary  theatre,  before  the  eyes  of  long 
generations  of  men.  The  parts  they  play  are  so 
great  and  solemn,  that  the  personations  last  for  ages. 
They  stalk  the  earth,  not  as  perturbed  but  glorified 
spirits,  for  centuries  after,  in  the  body,  they  are  dust. 
Jonathan  Mayhew,  the  second  pastor  of  the  West 
Church,  I  must  claim  for  one  of  those  that  have  this 
majestic  tvead.  The  condition,  not  alone  of  this 
Christian  society,  but  of  this  community  and  whole 
land,  is  different  and  better  because  of  what  he  did 
and  said,  whom  some  in  his  time  called  a  fanatic. 
Truly,  it  requires  no  Old  Mortality,  no  antiquarian 
genius,  groping  dimly  among  the  relics  of  the  past. 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  89 

to  make  his  spirit  return :  verily,  his  spirit  is  here, 
and  never  went  away.    The  currents  are  still  flowing, 
and  may  never  cease  to  flow,  whose  tide  he  increased 
and   propelled.     One   of  the    masters,   I    call  him, 
who,  as  in  the  poetic  celebration  of  the  castinc^  of 
the  bell  that  should  ring  for  religion,  freedom,  and 
every  occasion  of  solemnity  and  human  joy,  stood 
by,  and  gave  the  wise  and  grand  directions  when  the 
elements  were  all  molten  around,  and  men's  souls 
were  everywhere  tried  as  the  national  existence  was 
to  take  its  actual  mould.     He  was  great,  because  he 
did  what  the  exigency  required,  —  stood  in  the  pass 
where  the  battle  must  be  fought,  and  the  hosts  of 
liberty  at  length  march  through.     One  timely  blow 
is   worth  a  thousand  ;    one  fitting   word  weightier 
than  whole  debates. 

To  some  of  his  writings  I  shall,  before  I  conclude, 
have  occasion  to  refer.  I  can  only,  in  passing,  now 
say,  that  in  them  he  discussed  the  momentous 
themes  of  the  times,  with  a  wit,  energy,  and  effi- 
ciency unrivalled  by  the  pens  of  any  of  his  theo- 
logical brethren,  unsurpassed  by  the  finest  and  bold- 
est utterances  even  of  the  political  forum.  Such 
subjects  as  the  right  of  private  judgment,  the  amena- 
bleness  of  the  soul  to  God  alone  for  its  honest 
opinions,  the  question  of  passive  obedience  and  non- 

8* 


90  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

resistance,  and  of  the  responsibleness  of  rulers  to 
the  common  welfare,  were  moved  by  him  in  a  way 
to  excite  the  unbounded  joy  of  sympathizers,  and 
unstop  countless  vials  of  to  him  impotent  wrath 
from  his  foes.  I  confess  I  cannot  read  his  political 
discourses  at  this  day  without  a  thrill  atin  to  the 
tingling  of  the  nerves,  and  hurrying  of  the  blood, 
with  which  they  were  heard  ninety  years  ago. 

The  chief  trait  of  his  mind  was,  no  doubt,  that 
burning  love  of  liberty,  civil  liberty  and  soul 
liberty,  which  always  makes  a  man  great,  and, 
whenever  for  his  agency  is  given  any  scope,  shows 
him  great  as  he  is.  He  was  one  of  the  quickest 
and  earliest  to  catch  the  spirit  that  brooded  over  the 
face  of  the  waters  .when  the  fountains  of  the  great 
political  deep  among  us  were  about  to  be  broken  up  ; 
and  in  every  extremity  in  this  country's  colonial 
affairs,  while  he  lived,  no  man  was  more  courageous 
in  speech,  or  more  resolute  and  unflinching  in  pro- 
cedure. 

There  was  nothing  hesitating  or  tardy  in  his  in- 
fluence ;  but  it  was  always  in  season,  and,  as  it  were, 
from  one  who  had  risen  before  the  break  of  day. 
Weak  men  are  slow ;  never  slow  was  he.  In  the 
year  1775,  nine  years  after  Mayhew's  death,  it  is 
related  that  the  British  troops,  suspecting  that  the 


DISCOURSE   ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  91 

handsome  steeple  of  the  West  Church,  in  Lynde 
Street,  had  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  giving  sig- 
nals to  the  Continental  troops,  then  in  Cambridge, 
razed  it  to  the  ground,  to  prevent  such  communi- 
cation from  being  any  longer  had.  It  was  certainly 
not  strange,  for  some  reasons  of  old  association  as  well 
as  convenient  locality,  that  this  particular  steeple 
should  have  been  so  employed.  But,  alas  for  them  ! 
the  enemies  of  the  country  were  in  this  too  late  :  the 
precaution,  as  in  some  other  cases,  was  taken  after 
the  misfortune  had  occurred  ;  the  rebellious  mischief 
had  been  done  already  inside  the  church,  from  a 
watch-tower  loftier  and  more  conspicuous  than  the 
belfry  of  the  building  ;  and,  however  those  patriotic 
signals  may  have  been  concerted  or  held  forth, 
whether  by  the  waving  of  flags  or  by  warning  strokes 
of  the  bell,  other  more  effectual  signals  had  been 
given,  in  the  eloquent  mien  of  May  hew,  and  the 
brave  words  of  his  lips,  that  did  not  vanish,  like 
streaming  banners,  from  the  eyes  of  men,  or  die  away, 
like  other  tones,  from  their  hearing,  upon  the  air. 

Nearly  ten  years  before  that  shrewd  measure  of 
British  safety  was  adopted,  like  so  many  others,  on 
the  principle  that  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  — 
namely,  in  1756,  on  a  Lord's-day  morning  in  June, 
only  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  —  Mayhew  wrote 


92  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

to  Otis,  that  as  he  had  lain  in  his  bed,  thinking  of 
the  communion  of  the  churches,  "  the  great  use 
and  importance  of  a  communion  of  the  colonies " 
appeared  to  him  in  a  strong  light,  and  he  was 
accordingly  led  to  transmit  the  suggestion  at  once 
to  this  champion  and  co-laborer  in  the  great  cause 
of  freedom.  His  was,  no  doubt,  the  first  mind  upon 
which  the  idea  in  this  shape  had  dawned ;  though 
that  necessity  of  co-operation  must  have  begun  to 
force  itself  upon  all,  which  appeared  in  a  shape  of 
such  solemn  beauty  from  heaven  to  him. 

Surely  it  was  a  grand  and  fruitful  hint,  containing 
the  germ  of  endless  expansion  ;  but  what  is  most 
interesting  in  it,  as  respects  the  character  of  Mayhew, 
is  the  light  of  religious  principle  under  which  every 
political  object  appeared  to  his  thoughts.  The  con- 
ception, moreover,  only  does  justice  to  the  fact  of 
the  lofty  ground  upon  which  our  liberties  were 
asserted  and  achieved,  and  to  which  the  success  of 
our  own,  as  well  as  of  an  earlier  English  revolution, 
is  to  be  so  much  attributed.  An  inspiration  from 
God  among  iis  prompted  the  blow  that  was  struck 
for  man.  Religion  was  the  parent  of  our  pure  and 
sublime  policy,  and  the  church  rather  the  begetter 
than  the  partner  of  the  state.  From  the  table  of 
the  Lord  came  the  strength  that  nerved  men,  not 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  US 

only  for  the  ordinary  trials  of  life,  but  to  do  and 
suffer  for  the  deliverance  of  humanity  from  throned 
tyranny ;  and  to  this  very  place  where  "we  are  assem- 
bled belongs  the  glory  of  the  genius  that  gave  per- 
fect expression  to  the  great  law  of  our  national  life 
and  prosperity.  Indeed,  if  burning  ideas,  as  well 
as  the  heroic  deeds  they  prompt,  can  bestow  a  local 
dignity,  then  the  preacher's  desk,  we  here  succeed 
to,  must  share  the  renown  of  the  soldier's  battle- 
field. Ay,  this  little  green  eminence,  now  shaven 
and  smoothed,  decoratetl  fitly  with  fountain  and 
trees,  site  of  our  former  and  present  temple,  found, 
I  will  say,  even  in  the  clash  of  arms  on  Bunker 
Hill,  but  some  echo  to  its  own  worthy  fame,  as, 
to  apply  once  more  a  familiar  quotation,  "  deep 
calleth  unto  deep,  with  the  noise  of  his  water- 
spouts." 

''The  communion  of  churches, — the  communion 
of  colonies  ! "  One  feels  irresistibly  moved  to  repeat 
the  comprehensive  apothegm  for  a  present  applica- 
tion. The  churches  have  remained,  and  multiplied 
as  such  ;  the  colonies  have  become  states,  multi- 
plying also  without  end:  but  the  importance  of 
their  communion  in  the  spirit  of  liberty  has  not 
ceased,  though  it  is  less  against  external  foes  than 
internal  dangers  that  the  bond  of  brotherly  fellow- 


94  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

ship  is  now  required.  Never,  indeed,  was  it  more 
desirable  than  now  to  re-affirm  the  twofold  doctrine, 
of  independence  of  arbitrary  rule,  and  love  of  equal 
rights  for  all  men  as  children  of  God,  as  constitut- 
ing that  braided  and  irrefragable  bond.  God  grant 
that  our  ship  of  state,  having  weathered  successive 
storms  of  foreign  hostility,  may  not  rot  in  her 
stout  timbers  on  the  quiet  waters  of  peace ;  may  not 
break  bulk  in  the  very  harbor  to  which  she  has 
brought  home  her  treasures  of  policy  and  wealth ; 
may  not  have  the  beams  6f  her  strength  cut  and 
wrenched  away  by  any  mutineers  among  her  crew 
unfaithful  to  the  free  and  liberal  ends  of  her  voyage  ; 
may  not  be  disunited,  abandoned,  and  made  by 
zealots  a  premature  sacrifice  to  any  single  idea ; 
and  may  not  have  her  movements  brought  to  a  dead 
pause  by  divided  partisan  wills  and  factious  counsels, 
in  the  government  or  out  of  it ;  but  that  the  double 
union  of  faith  in  heaven  and  humanity  on  earth, 
which  Mayhew  urged  and  prayed  for,  may  be  our 
everlasting  distinction ;  and  all  infidelity,  sectional 
strife,  and  slavery,  finally,  peacefully,  pass  away 
before  it ! 

Dr.  Mayhew  died  on  the  9th  of  July,  1766, 
having  reached  only  into  the  forty-sixth  year  of  his 
age,  —  as,  in  the  expressive  description  accompanying 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  95 

his  likeness,  we  are  told,  "  overplied  by  public 
energies."  The  nervous  fever  that  he  died  of 
seems  to  have  in  itself  some  propriety  as  the  close 
of  a  course  of  action  so  earnest,  vital,  sleepless, 
and  indomitable  throughout.  His  life  seems  a  won- 
derfully short  one,  compared  with  the  figure  he 
makes  among  his  fellows.  But  it  was  long,  if  not 
in  its  years,  yet  truly  in  its  aims.  It  was  long  in 
the  prophetic  confidence  and  foresight  of  him,  who 
was  as  earnestly  stirred  in  spirit  for  his  brethren 
and  countrymen  as  Moses  was  for  the  Hebrews  in 
Egypt.  It  was  very  long  in  the  redeeming  conse- 
quences that  flowed  from  it,  in  conjunction  with 
other  emulous  and  noble  lives,  to  the  fettered  bodies 
and  oppressed  souls  of  men.  So  measured,  it  is  not 
even  yet  at  an  end  ;  nor  can  we  say  when  in  the  lapse 
of  time  it  will  be,  though  ten  annual  seasons  more  will 
complete  an  earthly  century  since  the  dust,  once  so 
marvellously  animated,  was  quiet  in  the  grave,  and 
the  soul  ascended  to  higher  circles  of  light  and  love, 
for  fit  companionship  in  heaven. 

If,  as  has  been  said,  no  death  is  so  sad  as  an  un- 
lamented  one,  and  the  degree  of  sorrow  at  one's 
departure  is  a  measure  of  the  importance  of  his  life, 
Dr.  Mayhew's  warmest  admirers  may  well  be  satis- 
fied with  the  irrepressible  testimonies  to  his  worth 


96  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

that  waited  at  his  sick-bed,  and  were  paid  to  his 
memory.  Throughout  the  region,  his  early,  and  as 
it  seemed  untimely,  decease,  was  deplored  by  the 
friends  of  civil  and  spiritual  freedom  ;  and  their  grief 
became  contagious,  and  .ran  over  into  a  general 
sorrow.  His  correspondents  in  England,  of  whom 
the  benevolent  HoUis,  the  great  benefactor  of  our 
college,  and  made  such  very  much  through  Mayhew's 
influence,  was  chief,  caught  the  affliction  in  all  its 
severity  across  the  sea.  While  his  fate  was  yet  in 
suspense,  some  of  the  clergy  of  his  own  neighbor- 
hood, who  had  suspected  him  of  theological  heresy, 
held  express  prayer ;  and  Episcopalian  ministers, 
whom  he  had  especially  offended,  composed  collects 
for  this  eager,  spontaneous,  and,  if  I  may  so  call  him, 
extemporary  man's  recovery.  One  reverend  doc- 
tor, commissioned  from  the  church  to  interrogate 
him  respecting  his  views  of  the  Trinity,  upon  calling, 
like  certain  officers  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  either 
forgot,  or  thought  it  not  proper  to  fulfil,  his  errand, 
and  reported  thus  his  conviction :  "  I  believe  he 
loves  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  sin- 
cerely." And  when  it  was  known  he  must  die, 
another,  inquiring  of  him  if  he  still  held  to  the  tenets 
he  had  maintained,  received  for  answer,  with  a  faint, 
difficult,  loving,  as  it  were  expiring,  pressure  of  the 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  97 

hand,  "  My  integrity  I  hold  fast,  and  will  not  let  it 
go."  Sublime  reply,  which  it  were  well  could  every 
dying  man  adopt ;  better  than  any  creed  the  wit  of 
man  ever  devised,  or  pen  of  system-maker  wrote,  or 
synod  imposed ;  and  which  may  God  give  us  grace 
in  the  last  moment,  in  humble  dependence  on  him 
and  trust  in  our  Lord  and  Master,  to  utter ! 

It  is  proper,  speaking  in  general  concerning  the 
religious  views  of  Mayhew,  to  say  that  he  renounced 
the  system  of  Calvin,  which  from  the  first  has  never 
been  taught  in  this  church  ;  that  he  vindicated  on  all 
occasions  the  claims  of  individual  conviction ;  re- 
sisted all  contradiction  of  reason,  though  coming  in 
the  name  of  God,  whom  he  worshipped  as  the 
inspirer  of  reason  ;  interpreted  the  Scriptures  with  a 
judgment  unchained  from  prescriptive  dogmas  ;  and 
preached  a  purity  and  liberality  of  doctrine,  bv 
which  those  Mho  have  grown  up  in  the  last  genera- 
tion may  well  be  gladly  amazed,  as  they  find  the  prin- 
ciples, for  which  they  had  looked  to  later  celebrated 
authors,  perhaps  of  their  own  day,  really  derived 
from  fountains  higher  up,  substantially  published  a 
century  ago,  and  preceding  the  great  revolutions,  in 
theology  as  well  as  politics,  which  they  did  so  much 
to  produce  ;  so  that  one  may  be  thus  reminded  of 
the  poet's  quaint  lines  beginning,  ''  Out  of  the  old 
•  9 


98  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

fields  Cometh  all  this  corn."  The  venerated  deceased 
Dr.  Freeman,  formerly  of  this  city,  who  has  some- 
times been  considered  the  first  public  advocate 
among  ns  of  the  strict  unity  of  God,  expressly  ren- 
ders to  Mayhew,  so  long  his  predecessor,  the  credit 
of  a  position  for  which,  with  its  afiiliated  beliefs,  they 
both  were  willing  to  do  and  sufier  so  much. 

The  character  of  Mayhew,  if  I  may  dwell  a  mo- 
ment longer  upon  it,  —  and  it  clings  the  closer  to 
every  ingenuous  mind  the  longer  it  is  contemplated, 
—  appears  conspicuously  in  the  qualities  of  his  style. 
What  perhaps  strikes  us  most  in  his  composition, 
is  its  wonderful  directness.  Repeatedly  I  have  no- 
ticed in  his  printed  sentences,  that,  when  he  comes 
to  an  end  of  his  meaning,  or  so  far  that  the  rest  of 
it  is  easily  suggested,  he  thinks  it  not  worth  while 
to  go  any  farther,  but  throws  away  the  grammatical 
period,  and  terminates  the  sentence  with  a  dash  of 
his  pen,  quite  significant  of  the  man,  as  though  he 
said,  like  his  Master  to  the  disciples.  It  is  enough ; 
you  understand  me  ;  I  need  not  say  any  more.  His 
paragraphs  go  straight  as  arrows  to  their  object ;  and 
I  may  add,  that  something  of  the  whiz  of  the  string, 
in  his  pungent  satire  upon  the  arrogance  or  folly  he 
attacks,  accompanies  their  fatal  execution.  He  plainly 
tells  the  Mr.  Cleveland,  who  had  presumed,  with  no 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  99 

<|aalification,  either  of  ability  or  candor,  to  be  his  the- 
ological adversary,  and  who  could  but  weakly  and 
unfairly  pervert  his  meaning,  that  his  purpose  in  no- 
ticing his  strictures  at  all  was  not  to  reply  to,  but  to 
chastise,  him.  The  most  racy  and  original  expres- 
sions abound  on  his  pages,  in  pamphlets  or  practical 
sermons  ;  so  that  I  could  fill  a  discourse  with  pithy 
quotations  from  his  quaint  and  piercing  lines.  The 
naturalness  of  a  child  in  his  phrase  and  idiom  is 
combined  with  an  herculean  grasp  of  the  strength  of 
the  strongest  of  men.  Not  unfrequently  his  tone 
rises  into  a  sort  of  sublimity,  in  which  the  most  so- 
lemn persuasions  of  his  mind  mingle  with  tender  and 
pathetic  gushings  from  one  of  the  most  affectionate 
as  well  as  resolute  hearts  that  ever  beat. 

The  sentiments  respecting  him,  quoted  from  his 
intimate  friends,  that  he  was  "  endowed  with  sin- 
gular greatness  of  mind,  and  fortitude  of  spirit ; 
with  softness  and  benevolence  of  temper ;  was  most 
amiable  in  all  the  relations  of  life  ;  exceeding  in  acts 
of  liberality  and  kindness  ;  a  man  of  zeal,  piety,  and 
true  devotion  ;  an  upright,  sincere  disciple  of  Christ," 
—  I  could  accept  on  the  evidence  given  of  their  truth 
in  all  his  compositions,  as  well  as  actions.  Not  un- 
frequently he  reaches  to  a  strain  wholly  beyond  the 
creative  reach  of  common  men.     There  are  passages 


100  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

in  his  volumes  which,  for  grandeur  of  conception 
and  a  chastened  magnificence  of  language,  are  truly 
Miltonic,  and  which  I  should  be  willing  to  place 
side  by  side  with  the  noblest  strains  of  that  great 
elder  brother  of  free  and  generous  souls  in  all  times, 
from  whose  name  this  suggestive  epithet  comes,  and 
in  whose  "  Apology  for  his  Early  Life  and  Writ- 
ings "  is  a  passage  I  would  recite  as  applicable  to 
none  since  the  days  of  the  British  Commonwealth 
more  than  to  Mayhew  himself  I  mean  that  where 
the  poet,  who  could  never  keep  his  inspiration  out 
of  his  prose,  speaking  of  and  defending  various 
natural  qualities  of  human  character,  among  the 
rest  describes  ''  the  invincible  warrior  Zeal,  who, 
shaking  loosely  the  slack  reins,  drives  over  the  heads 
of  scarlet  prelates,  and  such  as  are  insolent  to  main- 
tain traditions.,  bruising  their  stiff  necks  under  his 
flaming  wheels." 

As  I  contemplate  Mayhew  in  his  whole  figure, 
one  of  my  strongest  feelings  is  that  here  is  a  man 
that  belongs  altogether  to  our  country,  to  America. 
He  was  no  European  at  all.  Growing  up  in  child- 
hood in  the  midst  of  savage  nature  and  savage  men, 
to  fall  in  after-years  on  perilous  times,  he  was  a  pure 
production  of  the  circumstances,  necessities,  the  pe- 
culiar spirit,  and  providential  destiny,  of  the  Western 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  101 

World  ;  and  as  the  earliest  growths  in  the  material 
world,  if  somewhat  rude,  are  the  most  gigantic,  so 
was  it  with  his  mind.  His  deeds  and  words  savor 
of  the  rocks  and  trees  familiar  to  his  childhood,  and 
sound  of  the  ocean  that  was  neighbor  to  his  home. 
Refinement  is  a  good  thing  as  well  as  strength  ;  but 
strength  without  refinement  is  much  better  than 
refinement  without  strength.  Yet  there  was  in  his 
mind  no  lack  of  the  native  sense  of  courtesy,  and 
consciousness  of  what  was  due  to  all ;  and  no  man 
has  lived  who  more  profoundly  revered  the  supreme 
law  of  justice,  —  as  the  ancient  sage  says,  the  same 
at  Rome  and  Athens,  the  same  in  heaven  as  upon 
earth,  —  from  which  all  sweetness  and  courtesy  come. 
After  an  artist  has  endeavored  to  produce  a  ge- 
neral likeness,  he  makes  a  survey  of  his  work,  and 
then  proceeds  with  the  conscientious  painstaking  of 
a  slower  labor ;  going  over  his  whole  ground,  from 
the  first  stroke  to  the  last,  to  add  nicer  touches, 
hoping  through  minute  finish  to  bring  out,  from 
what  may  be  but  a  rude  sketch,  a  more  perfect 
resemblance.  In  the  lines  that  have  almost  spon- 
taneously, and  without  much  conscious  plan,  sug- 
gested themselves,  I  feel  that  I  have  but  roughly 
indicated  the  countenance  I  ought,  before  stopping, 
more  carefully  to  depict.     "Were  there  in  existence 

9* 


102  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

any  at  once  full  and  concise  delineation  of  Mayhew, 
I  should  hesitate  in  attempting  to  draw  so  great  a 
subject  at  all ;  but  as  it  seems  a  task  providentially 
devolved  upon  me  to  hold  forth  his  image,  at  least 
to  the  members  of  this  congregation,  I  beg  leave  to 
conclude  my  hasty  portraiture  with  some  character- 
istic incidents  in  the  doings  of  his  life  or  the  expres- 
sions of  his  thought.  The  brevity  to  which  I  am 
compelled  may  be  an  advantage  in  making  the 
likeness,  if  I  may  so  say,  more  convenient  and 
intellectually  portable. 

The  very  ordination  of  Mayhew  in  this  church 
was  but  the  opening  scene  of  that  mighty  part  of 
independence,  of  which,  as  of  the  resistless  destiny 
in  some  Greek  tragedy,  he  was  at  once,  as  I  have 
already  explained,  both  the  instrument  and  actor.  As 
much  in  religion  as  in  politics  he  was  prominent, 
and  left  his  mark  and  ineffaceable  signature  on  his 
age,  the  token  and  harbinger  of  opinions  and  a 
spirit  to  prevail  widely  long  after  he  was  dead. 
Like  the  Lucifer,  in  Guido's  picture  of  the  Aurora, 
he  was  divinely  chosen  to  bear  a  torch  before  the 
coming  of  the  sun ;  and  darkness  worse  than  that  of 
the  night  receded  before  him.  Of  all  the  bold 
spirits  among,  the  clergy  of  his  time,  who  either 
slighted  or   renounced   particularly    the  Calvinistic 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  lOo 

system  of  theology,  he,  fitted  by  nature  to  be  the 
champion  and  leader  of  whatever  cause  he  espoused, 
was  the  most  forward  and  uncompromising.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  day  appointed  for  his  induction 
into  office,  of  the  invited  ministers,  already  oflfended, 
or  suspicious  of  a  savor  and  taint  of  heresy  in  the 
air,  only  two,  and  not  one  of  those  from  Boston, 
deigned  to  attend  the  council.  On  a  second  ap- 
pointed day,  without  any  evidence  of  concessions 
from  Mayhew,  —  which  it  was  not  in  INIayhew,  from 
any  timidity  or  regard  to  expediency,  to  make,  —  but 
very  probably  as  a  tribute  to  his  undeniable  power 
and  worth,  several  churches  were  represented ;  so 
that  the  services  were  regularly  performed,  and  he 
became  the  pastor  of  a  church,  which,  to  its  real 
and  great  honor  be  it  spoken,  never  wavered  in  its 
costly  but  well-rewarded  attachment  to  him,  —  as  it 
has  never  been  found  wanting  to  any  of  its  pastors, 
—  but,  through  good  report  and  evil  report,  became 
for  his  trials  only  the  more  devoted  to  its  lofty- 
minded  spiritual  guide,  atoning  for  all  obloquy  or 
desertion  in  other  quarters  by  its  strong-siding 
support  and  unquenchable  love.  The  heretical  or 
unsafe  man  never  became  a  member  of  the  Boston 
Association  of  Congregational  Ministers,  that  had 
no  liking  for  new  and  dangerous  things,  and  was  in 


104  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

some  respects  a  quite  different  body  indeed  from 
what  it  is  now.  And  so  he  never  had  any  turn  in 
the  ecclesiastical  privilege  of  preaching  the  great 
Thursday  Lecture  ;  but  he  had  weekly  lectures  in 
his  own  church,  most  of  which  were  afterwards 
published,  and  probably  exceeded  in  their  influence 
all  the  conventional  and  customary  fruits  of  the 
regular  institution. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  theologians,  set  for  the 
defence,  not  only  of  the  gospel,  but  of  foregone  and 
dogmatic  conclusions  respecting  it,  should  have  been 
alarmed  at  the  aspect  and  speech  of  Mayhew.  For 
the  spirit  of  liberty,  both  civil  and  religious,  did  not 
seem  to  be  so  much  a  growth  in  his  mind  as  an 
inspiration,  —  a  genius  full-born  and  consummate  in 
the  first  moment  of  its  existence.  This  appears 
from  the  fact,  that  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  was 
one  of  the  earliest  of  his  discourses  upon  the  anni- 
versary of  the  death  of  Charles  I.,  in  January,  1750, 
several  years  before  Otis  wrote  on  the  "  Rights  of 
the  Colonies,"  or  that  collision  began,  between  the 
governors  and  the  patriots  of  Massachusetts,  which 
ended  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  This  was  the  first 
peal  on  the  trumpet  of  freedom  in  this  "Western  "World, 
blown  clear  and  loud  enough  to  be  heard  over  land 
and  water  far  and  wide.     It  announced  the  down- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  105 

fall  of  the  city  of  oppression,  as  clearly  as  the  rude 
blast  of  old  was  ominous  of  the  downfall  of  Jericho.  I 
confess  I  cannot  read  the  sentences,  that  come  like  suc- 
cessive lightnings,  in  that  discourse,  without  amaze- 
ment at  the  intellectual  and  moral  audacity  that  could 
hurl  such  hot  and  blazing  things  right  into  the  face  of 
arbitrary  power.  What  an  astonishment  and  distress 
the  sudden  flash  and  report  must  have  been  to  all 
the  authorities  then  in  vogue ! 

No  wonder  the  greatest  republican  souls  of  the 
day  admired  and  quoted  him,  praised  the  "  tran- 
scendent genius  "  that  "  threw  all  the  weight  of  his 
great  fame  into  the  scale  of  his  country,"  and  felt 
that  he  was  a  peer  among  masters  in  all  time  that 
had  ever  striven  to  indoctrinate  mankind  into  the 
principles  of  genuine  liberty.  The  thought  of  Sid- 
ney or  Hampden  was  no  clearer  than  his  upon 
the  nature  of  political  right  or  duty.  The  eye  of 
Cromwell  gazed  no  more  steady  and  undazzled  than 
his  upon  the  pomp  of  courts  and  the  glitter  of 
royalty.  Nor  did  Cromwell's  mind,  flushed  with 
military  success  on  many  a  desperate,  hard-fought 
field,  conceive  of  a  grander  protectorate  than  was 
present  to  that  of  the  lowly  minister  of  West 
Boston.  No  man,  whose  whole  business  was  to 
conduct  by  the  pen  or  the  sword  a  quarrel  with 


106  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

arbitrary  power,  ever  showed  more  decided  bent  and 
ability  for  rough  and  masculine  controversy.  No 
hater  of  despotic  rule,  from  the  first  Greek  to  the 
last  South  American  or  Chinese  rising  against  the 
hand  and  heel  of  oppression,  ever  swung  a  weapon 
of  more  terribly  righteous  Demosthenic  invective. 
Certainly  the  English  tongue  has  never  in  any  use 
of  it  exceeded  Mayhew's  force  of  expression  for  the 
purpose  he  had  in  view.  Upon  the  dogma  of  passive 
obedience  and  non-resistance  to  tyranny  he  heaps 
unmeasured  scorn  ;  and  the  notion  of  King  Charles's 
martyrdom  and  sainthood  in  particular  draws  down 
a  thunder  and  sharpness  of  irony,  which  it  might 
almost  be  thought  would  shame  and  cleanse  away 
the  sins  it  rebuked,  and  prove  itself  the  very  pur- 
gatory for  transgressors  which  the  old  church  so 
authoritatively  proclaimed,  and  moved  its  mightiest 
poet  awfully  to  build,  neighboring  to  the  amphi- 
theatric  descending  circles  of  hell,  in  the  vast  and 
gloomy  architecture  of  his  verse. 

Mayhew  thinks  it  a  hard  case  to  have  "  a  saintship 
without  sanctity,"  and  that  "  a  church  must  be  but 
poorly  stocked  with  saints  and  martyrs  which  is 
forced  to  adopt  such  enormous  sinners  into  her 
calendar  in  order  to  swell  the  numbers ; "  though 
he  admits   "it   may  be    said  that  such   things  are 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  107 

mysteries,  wliicli  lay-understandings  cannot  compre- 
hend, nor  indeed  any  others,  except  they  have  taken 
a  trip  across  the  Atlantic  to  obtain  Episcopal  ordi- 
nation, and  who  are  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ; "  ridiculing  thus  not  the  reality,  but  the 
exclusive  and  canting  pretence,  of  proud  men  to  that 
inward  and  blessed  motion.  He  complains  that 
there  had  been  an  "  impious  bargain  struck  up,  be- 
tween the  sceptre  and  the  surplice,  for  enslaving  both 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ;  "  that  "  not  Christ,  but 
Charles,  Avas  generally  preached  to  the  people  ;  "  and 
that  he  was  "  called  a  saint,  not  because  he  was  a 
good  man,  but  a  good  Churchman ;  not  because  he 
was  a  lover  of  holiness,  but  of  the  hierarchy ;  not 
because  he  was  a  friend  to  Christ,  but  to  the  craft. 
And  he  was  a  martyr  in  his  death,  not  because  he 
suffered  death  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness, but  because  he  was  an  enemy  to  liberty  and 
the  rights  of  conscience  ;  not  because  he  was  an 
enemy  to  sin,  but  to  the  Dissenters." 

Such  words  justify  certainly  all  that  may  be  said 
of  his  power  of  expression  ;  and  it  is  not  strange 
that  very  decided  sentiments  of  hostility  as  well  as 
friendship  should  be  excited  against  a  man  who 
could  utter  himself  thus.  But  he  had  warm  sympa- 
thizers and  encomiasts  on  both  sides  of  the  sea  ;  and 


108  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

George  Benson  writes  to  him,  from  London,  that 
"  the  name  of  Dr.  Mayhew  may  be  precious  in  New 
England  when  he  is  in  his  grave,  and  the  names  of 
his  bigoted  opposers  are  buried  in  obhvion."  Surely 
there  would  be  no  query  about  the  inspiration  and 
authority  of  any  prediction  that  should  be  as  well 
fulfilled  as  that.  Of  his  political,  Mayhew  might 
well  have  said  as  he  did  of  certain  religious,  practical 
discourses  which  he  had  put  forth,  that,  "if  there 
are  any  dangerous  errors  in  them,  they  are  not 
disguised  by  any  kind  of  artifice ;  do  not  just 
peep  through  the  mask  of  studied,  equivocal,  and 
ambiguous  phrases ;  nor  skulk  in  the  dark,  as  it 
were,  from  a  consciousness  of  what  they  are,  and  a 
fear  of  being  detected."  Surely,  if  the  virtue  of 
frankness  ever  clothed  a  man,  it  was  the  transparent 
garb  of  his  mind  and  manner ;  and  he  was  no  less 
courageous  than  he  was  frank.  If  I  may  name 
what  will  appear  perhaps  as  significant  to  some  as 
it  may  look  trifling  to  others,  the  peculiarly  clear 
and  large  characters  in  which  he  writes  his  name 
seem  to  express  his  undisguised  nature,  and  to  chal- 
lenge attention  to  every  word  that  falls  from  his  pen, 
as  if  he  feared  not  the  whole  world's  scrutiny  of 
whatever  he  indited  or  subscribed.  He  says,  "  There 
is  a  difference  between  a  man's  being  scolded  at  and 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  109 

refuted."  And  "  I  must  now  declare,  once  for  all, 
that  I  will  not  be  even  religiously  scolded,  nor  pitied, 
nor  whipped  out  of  any  principles  or  doctrines  which 
I  believe  on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  that  small  share  of  reason  which  God  has 
given  me  ;  nor  will  I  postpone  this  authority  to  that 
of  all  the  good  fathers  of  the  church,  even  with  that 
of  the  good  mothers  added  to  it."  Probably  a 
stroke  of  satire  more  trenchant  through  all  possible 
wards  and  shields  was  never  delivered  than  that 
where,  describing  the  various  methods  of  the  anta- 
gonists of  his  friends  to  refute  their  arguments,  he 
says,  that,  finding  other  means  unsuccessful,  they 
had  discovered  one  way  which  would  be  quite  effi- 
cient ;  namely,  to  throw  stones,  and  knock  out  the 
brains  of  the  reasoners.  He  shows  his  wonted  fear- 
lessness in  searching  even  into  the  recognized  canon 
of  the  books  of  Scripture;  and  says  he  knows  not 
why  the  Song  of  Solomon  should  be  included  among 
the  sacred  books,  and  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon  left 
out,  but  that  men  love  songs  better  than  wisdom. 

But  I  must  not  consume  in  details  the  space  that 
should  be  devoted  to  larger  characterization.  The 
Discourse  of  Mayhew  on  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  which  was  one  of  the  last,  as  that  on  the  anni- 
versary  of  King  Charles's  death  was    one    of  the 

10 


110  DISCOUKSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

first,  grand  demonstrations  of  his  power,  to  the  mag- 
nificent beginning  formed  truly  a  sublime  and  well- 
proportioned  close.  To  a  great  work  of  art,  unity, 
as  we  know,  is  essential.  But  is  not  a  human  life 
the  greatest  work  of  art  we  can  conceive  ?  Surely, 
to  the  greatness  of  a  man,  unity  of  principle  and 
action  running  through  his  whole  life  is  an  indis- 
pensable requisite.  Many  have  had  bursts  of  enthu- 
siasm on  one  point  or  another,  which  they  did  not 
sustain  and  carry  out.  Many  have  made  splendid 
speeches  and  orations ;  but  their  speeches  and  orations 
stood  not,  if  I  may  say  so,  in  orderly  and  consistent 
array,  in  one  line  of  battle  against  the  errors  and 
sins  of  the  world ;  and,  therefore,  with  their  shifting 
brilliancy  accomplished  nothing,  and  were  at  best 
only  as  the  harmless  evolutions  and  impotent  glitter 
of  a  sham-fight.  Some  men  live  for  amusement, 
and  some  in  sober  earnest ;  and,  to  change  my 
figure,  they  illustrate  the  difference  between  a 
kaleidoscope  and  a  cannon.  We  know  well  how  it 
was  with  Mayhew.  His  last  grand  utterance  was 
the  peroration  of  one  uniform  life-long  discourse, 
that  broke  forth  as  in  successive  sentences  and  on 
many  occasions,  but  ran  like  a  single  effort  through 
his  whole  public  career.  It  was  like  the  last  note 
in  a  great  bui'st  of  martial  music,  whose  continuation 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  Ill 

was  but  the  perfect  sustaining  of  its  pregnant  and 
ominous  prelude  ;  for  this  man's  speech,  true  to  the 
image  I  have  here  chanced  upon,  however  loud,  ter- 
rible, and  arousing,  still  was  music.  It  was  no  harsh, 
jangling  discord,  as  of  one  who  can  only  rave  and  scold 
and  rend  the  ears  that  listen,  betokening  a  sour,  an- 
gry, and  contradictory  nature  as  its  source.  True,  it 
was  not  at  any  time  very  soft,  gentle,  and  Arcadian 
music.  It  was  no  pastoral  pipe,  that  he  blew  merely 
to  call  the  listless  and  idle  sheep  together,  but  a 
piercing  trumpet,  with  reverberating  alarum  through 
the  wilds  of  the  pasture  to  scare  off  the  wolves,  and 
send  terror  into  the  hearts  of  those  that  would 
devour  the  flock. 

Yet,  in  this  last  discourse,  with  the  re-assertion 
of  the  principles  for  which  he  had  contended  and 
would  have  been  willing  to  die,  there  is,  especially 
in  the  Introduction,  an  overflowing  joy,  so  simple 
and  pure  that  the  man's  heart  of  oak  seems  to  be 
but  a  child's  heart  of  flesh  after  all.  His  expres- 
sions are  such  that  one  doubts  a  little  if  he  knew 
well  whether  to  write  upon  the  occasion,  or,  like 
jubilant  King  David  when  the  ark  of  the  Lord  had 
been  brought  to  Zion,  to  dance  before  the  Lord  with 
all  his  might.  He,  however,  had  set  his  face  as  flint 
against  all  the   riotous   proceedings  of  unsanctified 


112  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAIHEW. 

men,  even  in  opposition  to  the  hated  Act  which  was 
now  to  his  delight  rescinded  ;  nor  was  Luther  him- 
self more  hostile  to  any  Anabaptist  excesses  of  fury, 
than  he  always  was  to  deeds  of  lawless  and  passionate 
violence.  Wonderful  composure  and  dignity,  as  well 
as  animation  and  impetuosity,  this  man  knows  very 
well  how  to  have.  A  conscious  nobility  of  nature 
unites  with  the  dignity  of  an  unflinching  devotion 
to  freedom,  to  raise  him  to  a  level  with  the  greatest 
spirits.  He  addresses  William  Pitt,  the  friend  and 
promoter  of  American  liberties,  in  a  strain  of  pene- 
trating sentiment  and  simple  grandeur,  which  makes 
Mayhew  look  back  there  upon  the  platform  that 
included  England  and  America,  with  the  rolling  sea 
between,  like  the  fitting  mate  of  the  great  orator  and 
statesman  himself,  as  though  he  indeed  walked  in 
company  with  him,  in  equal  height  of  stature  and 
with  unlowered  head,  down  that  vista  of  time  towards 
future  ages  of  fame.  Even  the  pagan  doubters  of 
human  immortality  thought,  that,  while  the  mass  of 
men  perished,  great  souls  might  survive  the  tomb. 
What  greetings  and  courtesies,  magnificent  beyond 
our  poor  imagination,  far  from  this  shadowy  land, 
these  great  souls  must  give  each  other  as  they  meet ! 
and  what,  following  upon  their  former  earthly  inter- 
course, must  be  the  grandeur  of  the  celestial  fellow- 
ship and  deep  counsels  they  hold  ! 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  113 

In  the  great  lists  of  the  time,  either  in  sympathy 
or  repugnance,  it  seemed  to  be  Mayhew's  lot  to 
measure  himself  with  superior  men,  and  to  be  some- 
times opposed  to  potentates  with  a  soul  more  kingly 
than  their  own.  A  strife,  that  arose  between  him 
and  Governor  Bernard,  brought  out,  perhaps  as 
vividly  as  did  any  situation  of  his  life,  his  peculiar 
personal  traits.  Mayhew  had  mentioned  to  one  or 
two  of  his  most  confidential  associates  and  parishion- 
ers a  story,  told  by  an  Indian  who  had  come  to 
present  a  petition  to  the  governor,  offering  therewith 
some  money,  which,  as  the  Indian  said,  the  governor 
freely  accepted  and  put  into  his  pocket ;  an  act 
which,  if  it  indeed  took  place,  was  unusual  and 
very  discreditable.  Bernard,  both  on  account  of  his 
royalist  principles  and  his  ecclesiastical  prejudices, 
was  already  in  a  position  of  vehement  antagonism 
to  Mayhew,  who  had  distinguished  himself  for  his 
formidable  criticisms  upon  all  arbitrary  authority  in 
church  or  state.  Mayhew's  purely  private  remark, 
which  was  nothing  but  a  simple,  blameless  relation 
of  the  Indian's  story,  through  the  careless  and  un- 
retentive  trust  of  some  one  who  heard  it,  unfortu- 
nately got  abroad.  It  needed  only  this  perfectly 
innocent  drop  from  Mayhew's  mind  to  make  the 
gubernatorial  wrath,  which  had  already  swollen  like 
10* 


114  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

dammed-up  channels  among  the  hills,  overflow.  The 
ruler  summons  the  preacher,  —  as  the  German  monk, 
that  Mayhew  much  resembles,  was  summoned,  — 
with  the  hottest  irritation  brands  him  as  a  libeller  in 
being  the  repeater  of  a  lie,  and  threatens  him  with 
prosecution  for  defamatory  words.  Mayhew  takes 
the  rudeness  with  a  patience  as  noble  as  any  heroism 
in  his  active  conduct ;  but,  after  some  time  had 
elapsed,  addresses  to  his  excellency  a  letter,  which, 
telling  Bernard  that  not  a  line  of  it  had  been  com- 
municated to  any  other  person,  he  consigns  to  the 
pleasure  of  his  disposal.  No  wonder,  to  any  one 
who  now  reads  it,  that  the  governor  never  saw  fit  to 
answer,  to  publish,  or  probably  even  to  show  it  to 
his  intimate  friends,  and  that  the  world  should  be 
indebted  for  its  preservation  to  a  blotted  and  inter- 
lined copy  found  among  Mayhew's  own  papers  ! 
Bernard  must  have  been  inclined  to  hurry  it  out  of 
existence  as  soon  as  possible ;  for  he  was  not  told, 
as  persons  receiving  a  communication  sometimes  are, 
to  burn  it,  but  to  use  it  as  he  listed;  which  he  no 
doubt  did.  The  best  use  he  could  make  of  it  was, 
no  doubt,  to  let  it  sleep  ;  for,  among  all  epistolary 
productions,  replies  or  rejoinders,  ancient  or  modern, 
which  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  read,  I  have  never 
met  with  one  more  conclusive,  or  leaving  less  curi- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  115 

osity  as  to  what  could  be  said  or  sent  back  on  the 
other  side.  I  have  been  told,  that,  when  the  cele- 
brated Albert  Gallatin  was  asked  why  he  would  not 
answer  a  speech  made  by  John  Marshall,  he  replied, 
"  Because  it  is  unanswerable."  So  I  think  was 
Mayhew's  letter.  The  plainest  candor  and  the  sub- 
tlest irony ;  the  most  unaffected  courtesy  and  terrific 
severity  ;  a  humility  that  claims  nothing,  and  a  piety 
that  soars  above  all  princedoms ;  a  perfect  obeisance 
to  just  law,  with  an  absolute  renunciation  of  tyran- 
nical sway  ;  a  soul  of  rock  no  menace  could  subdue, 
with  a  heart  flowing,  like  the  rock,  into  exhaustless 
streams  of  gentleness, — all  mingle  in  its  lines;  to 
every  one  of  which,  as  we  go  on,  we  respond,  Well 
done  !  —  and  which  altogether  prove  the  author  to 
be  truly,  for  marvellous  combination  of  qualities, 
himself  a  king  and  governor  among  men. 

But  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  specimens  of 
his  genius  for  discussion  are  to  be  found  in  his 
**  Observations  on  the  Character  and  Conduct  of 
the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts."  The  funds  of  this  society,  which  were 
created  for  the  purpose  of  converting  the  heathen 
to  Christianity,  had  been  used  for  the  unnecessary 
introduction  of  Episcopal  societies  where  the  pri- 
vileges of  the  gospel  were  already  enjoyed,  with  a 


116  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

design,  as  Mayhew  believed,  of  subjecting  the  entire 
population,  if  possible,  to  the  authority  of  the  church, 
as  well  as  of  the  sceptre,  of  England.  He  stoutly 
resists  the  approach  of  the  engine  with  which,  as  he 
grandly  expressed  it,  it  was  intended  to  '^  shake  this 
part  of  the  earth."  Whoever  admires  sharpness  of 
wit  and  cogency  of  logic  will  enjoy  a  perusal  of  his 
several  tracts,  in  which  he  manages  his  case  with 
consummate  skill  against  the  best  adversaries  that 
could  be  aroused  upon  the  contrary  side ;  having, 
among  others,  no  less  a  personage  than  the  Primate 
of  England,  as  "  a  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel." 

In  the  course  of  the  controversy,  being  by  Seeker, 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  whom  this  anony- 
mous writer  that  replied  to  him  is  understood  to 
have  been,  reproached  as  "  a  poor  man,"  he  replies 
thus  :  "  I  am  indeed  '  a  poor  man,'  as  this  gentle- 
man calls  me  ;  but,  through  the  goodness  of  God 
and  the  generosity  of  his  people,  I  have  a  comfort- 
able subsistence  and  contentment ;  which,  if  attended 
with  integrity  and  godliness,  is  all  the  gain  my  soul 
aspires  after  in  this  world.  In  this  respect  I  have 
been  publicly  upbraided,  —  in  another  sense,  as  I 
suppose.  Nor  has  the  irreproachable  memory  of 
my  father  escaped  insult  from  some  of  my  oppo- 
nents.    But  I  had  rather  be  the  poor  son  of  a  good 


DISCOURSE    OX    DR.    MAYHEW.  117 

man,  who   spent   a   long   life   in  the   laborious   and 
apostolic  employment  of  preaching  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ  to  poor  Indians,  than  the  rich  son 
and  heir  of   one   who,   by   temporizing  in   religion 
and  tampering  with  politics,  by  flattering  the  great 
and  prostituting  his  conscience,  has  made  his  way 
to  a  bishopric  and  the  worldly  dignity  of  a  peer." 
One,  who  could  withstand  assault  and  repel  insult 
in  this  way,  was  not  likely  to  be  frequently  by  the 
same  person  attacked.    When,  in  the  humbler  sphere 
of  the  animal    kingdom,   the    safety  of  the  callow 
brood  is  disturbed,  any  one,  who  observes  nature  at 
all,   will   have   noticed  what  fiery   indignation    and 
what  soft  protection   become  as    one  and   the   same 
thing  in  the  parental  attitude  and  heart !     So  May- 
hew  lifts  his  voice  and  spreads  the  feathers  of  his 
wings  at  the  same  time  to  repel  assaults,  and  cover 
the  young  and  tender  growth,  in  this  transatlantic 
province,   of  spiritual    freedom.     The    pitying    and 
pathetic    guardianship  is  equally   notable   with    the 
indignant  and  effectual   repulse.     Inquiring  once  of 
an    ear-witness    respecting    the    speech   of   a   great 
orator,  I  was   told  it   had    about   it    no    display   of 
rhetoric  or  gesture',  but  moved  towards  his  opponent 
in   the   case   as   with   the   calm,   assured,   inevitable 
destruction    of   fate.     Such    annihilation    is    in    the 


118  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

course  of  Mayhew's  argument.  I  cannot  refrain 
from  quoting  the  close  of  one  passage  of  sublime 
eloquence :  — 

''Will  they  never  let  us  rest  in  peace,  except 
where  all  the  weary  are  at  rest  ?  Is  it  not  enough 
that  they  persecuted  us  out  of  the  Old  World  ? 
Will  they  pursue  us  into  the  New  to  convert  us 
here,  compassing  sea  and  land  to  make  us  prose- 
lytes, while  they  neglect  the  heathen  and  heathenish 
plantations  ?  What  other  New  World  remains  as  a 
sanctuary  for  us  from  their  oppressions,  in  case  of 
need  ?  Where  is  the  Columbus  to  explore  one  for 
and  pilot  us  to  it,  before  we  are  consumed  by  the 
flames  or  deluged  in  a  flood  of  episcopacy  ?  For 
my  own  part,  I  can  hardly  ever  think  of  our  being 
pursued  thus  from  Britain  into  the  wilds  of  Ame- 
rica, and  from  world  to  world,  without  calling  to 
mind,  though  without  applying,  that  passage  in  the 
Revelation  of  St.  John :  '  And  to  the  woman  were 
given  two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,  that  she  might  fly 
into  the  wilderness,  into  her  place,  where  she  is 
nourished,  from  the  face  of  the  serpent.  And  the 
serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a  flood  after 
the  woman,  that  he  might  cause  her  to  be  carried 
away  of  the  flood.' "  Need  one  hesitate  to  compare 
such  periods  with  Milton's  own  ? 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  119 

Such  is  the  tremendous  swing  of  the  M-eapons  he 
uses.     Yet  this  man  did  not  love  strife,  and  says  he 
would  gladly  have  been  excused  from  such  encoun- 
ters.    It  is  beautiful  to  notice  the  fine  contention  of 
opposite  qualities  in  his  mind,  — tenderness  strug- 
gling with  strength,  courtesy   with  plain-speaking, 
openness  with  ironical  humor,  and  quick  perceptions 
with  sudden  impulses  that  almost   overmaster  and 
bear  him  away  ;  so  that  once  he  says,  of  an  outbreak 
of  ardor  in  the  pulpit,  that  he  knows  not  how  to  ac- 
count for  this  "  odd  excursion."    Evidently  he  had  no 
mere  will  of  his  own  in  the  matter  that  moved  him. 
The  cause,  the  exigency,  was  omnipotent  in  his  mind. 
This  is  a  chief  chai'acteristic  of  all  truly  great  men, 
that    not    caprice  or  ingenuity  seems   to   determine 
them,   but  a  divine   call,  a  heavenly  decree,  — the 
divine  call,  the  heavenly  decree,  that  always  makes 
the  great  man.     As  the  word  of  the  Lord  comes  to 
some  Jeremiah  or  Micah,  a  burden  they  must  roll 
off  upon  the   world,  and  as   necessity  is   laid  upon 
the  great  apostle  to  preacli,  so  is  it  with  all  God's 
servants. 

Dr.  Mayhew  has  sometimes  been  blamed,  in  his 
latter  days  he  was  somewhat  disposed  to  blame  him- 
self, for  the  extremely  satirical  language  he  occa- 
sionally employed,  the  most  conspicuous  example  of 


120  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

which  is  probably  found  in  his  letter  to  the  Mr. 
Cleveland  whom  I  have  already  named.  If  the 
question  be,  whether  there  can  ever  be  Christian 
occasion  for  the  use  of  indignation  and  scorn,  it 
may  be  soon  settled  ;  for  these  sentiments  are 
undoubtedly  in  the  Bible  ascribed  to  God,  and 
sometimes  exercised  by  our  merciful  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Such  noble  men  as  Milton  and  Luther  also 
certainly  felt  they  had  sometimes  righteous  occasion 
to  call  them  into  play  in  the  most  free  and  unspar- 
ing manner.  Indeed,  whose  scorn  and  indignation 
should  equal  those  of  a  holy  man  against  all  the 
meanness  and  iniquity  in  the  world  ?  The  only  real 
question  is,  whether  they  are  applied  in  lit  season 
and  measure,  and  in  proper  subserviency  to  the  pur- 
poses of  a  moral  equity  and  a  truly  Christian  love, 
for  those  who  are  made  the  objects  of  them. 

I  have  no  anxiety  to  prove  Mayhew  a  paragon 
of  infallible  judgment  or  spotless  virtue.  He  has 
merit  enough  to  bear  much  exception  or  detraction. 
He,  alone  of  all  men,  did  not  come  to  be  "  that 
faultless  monster  which  the  world  ne'er  saw ; " 
though,  when  I  consider  the  extent  of  his  provo- 
cation, and  the  urgency  of  his  cause,  if  there  be 
aught  in  his  temper  or  expression  to  be  regretted, 
I  am  not  convinced  of  any  especial  or  extraordinary 
error  in  the  particular  direction  named. 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYIIEW.  121 

Feeling,  however,  myself  some  concern  upon  this 
point,  I  inquired,  of  a  learned  and  candid  and  very 
reverend  man,  his  judgment  upon  Mayhew's  severity 
of  speech.  He  answered,  that  he  had  no  fault  to 
iind  with  him  on  that  score ;  and  that  it  might  often 
be  very  well  seen,  when  a  sharp  thing  was  said,  it 
was  in  reply  to  a  sharper  one  said  before,  that  could 
not  well  be  met  and  disposed  of  with  very  soft  and 
tame  language.  Something  fiery  seems  always  to 
go  along  with,  and  in  part  to  constitute,  great  contro- 
versial power,  as  the  red-hot  furnace,  the  source  of 
strength,  lies  beneath  the  locomotive  engine ;  and 
certainly,  when  the  question  discussed  passed  from 
other  hands  into  those  of  Mayhew,  it  was  as  when 
the  tired  and  panting  horses  upon  the  railway  resign 
the  train  to  the  more  potent  and  fierce  yet  well- 
tempered  draught  of  the  iron  steed. 

It  ought  not,  in  any  summary,  however  brief,  of 
Mayhew's  cai'eer,  to  be  forgotten  that  he  was  an 
advocate  not  only  of  political  and  religious  freedom, 
but  also  of  sound  learning,  and  manifested  a  warm 
friendship,  that  brought  forth,  as  I  have  already 
intimated,  most  substantial  fruits  for  what  was  then 
the  very  seat  and  only  hope  of  literature,  —  Harvard 
College.  The  benefactions  it  received  from  Hollis 
flowed  in  the  channel  of  that  benevolent  man's  pe- 
ll 


122  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

culiar  love  for  Mayhew,  who  rejoiced  to  turn  the 
current  of  favor,  not  to  his  private  satisfaction  alone, 
but  in  all  ways  towards  the  cherished  institution. 
He  was  its  great  defender  also  against  the  attempt 
to  set  up  against  it  a  rival  seminary  ;  and  his  fame 
should  always  be  held  dear  within  the  precincts  he 
did  so  much  to  preserve,  enrich,  and  adorn. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  with  what  ardor  he 
inveighed  against  the  Popish  idolatry,  which  was 
the  subject  of  his  Dudleian  Lecture  in  1765  :  for 
superstition  in  every  form  was  his  peculiar  hatred  ; 
and  he  seemed  born  to  extinguish  or  drive  it  out 
everywhere  from  his  sphere. 

Always  he  goes  for  reality,  and  abhors  all 
deceit.  He  hates  what  he  calls  "  face-religion." 
He  would  have  nought  to  do  with  the  austerity 
that  created  artificial  vices,  for  reputed  saints  to 
have  a  holy  horror  about ;  and  so  diminished  the 
baseness  of  real  sins  of  fraud  and  hypocrisy.  He 
would  not  let  fraud  and  hypocrisy  hide  their  huge  and 
aggravated  baseness  behind  conventional  sins.  It  is 
matter  even  of  amazement  to  see  how  superior  he 
was  to  all  ecclesiastical  prepossessions,  and  how  ac- 
curately he  drew  the  line  between  the  asceticism 
of  the  rigid  party  in  religion  and  the  excessive 
self-indulgence  of  the  worldlings.     Preaching  upon 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  123 

"  Sinful  Diversions  or  Recreations,"  he  yet  coura- 
geously, against  the  understood  notions  of  church- 
holiness,  maintains  the  propriety,  among  other 
amusements,  of  dancing,  under  proper  attendant 
circumstances,  and  within  due  limits  of  decorum  ; 
and  he  himself  indulged  in  the  sports  of  the  field, 
living  at  a  time  when  they  might  present  a  stronger 
.  and  closer  allurement  than  now,  when  weapons  were 
more  familiar  to  such  hands  as  his  than  they  are  at 
present,  and  when  such  pursuits  agreed  well  with 
the  general  call  to  do  whatever  might  contribute  to 
the  reign  of  order,  civilization,  and  plenty,  in  a 
region  still  a  desert,  rather  than  the  Cultivated  gar- 
den Ave  know  it  to  be. 

Were  I  called  upon  to  decide,  in  general,  what 
was  the  marked  and  most  singular  gift  in  Mayhew's 
mind,  I  should  say  it  was  that  for  the  pure  processes 
of  the  practical  reason,  appearing  clearly  as  they  did 
to  him  in  his  thought,  and  expressed  mightily  with 
his  pen.  Accordingly,  earnest  as  his  nature  was, 
lie  was  yet  more  of  a  writer  than  of  an  orator  or 
speaker.  He  himself  says,  "  Though  I  am  sensible 
that  writing  is  what  I  have  a  poor  talent  for,  yet 
even  that  is  of  the  two,  perhaps,  rather  better  than 
my  talent  at  speaking ;  in  which  latter  I  often  find 
it  difficult  for  me   to   express  my  meaning,  even  on 


124  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 

common  occasions,  on  things  familiar  to  me."  It 
is  said  that,  in  fact,  "  he  often  appeared  at  a  loss  for 
words,  and  hesitated  much  in  conversation."  But 
I  think  this  statement  need  not  surprise  us ;  for  I 
suspect  it  might  be  found  that  some  of  the  greatest 
men  have  not  been  distinguished  for  fluency  of 
tongue,  or  the  smoothest  and  most  agreeable  de- 
livery, in  speech,  of  their  meditations.  Superficial 
things,  that  are  on  everybody's  lips  and  v/ithin 
reach  of  everybody's  immediate  understanding,  are, 
more  often  than  the  deep  things  of  God  or  of  the 
human  heart,  the  staple  and  substance  of  free  and 
pleasing,  and*  everywhere  current,  though  cheap, 
oratory.  Much  and  profound  thinking  seems  to 
crowd  the  passages  of  the  mind,  so  as  to  get  for 
itself  but  a  poor  and  troubled  exit  from  them  into 
the  world  ;  as,  to  use  Dean's  Swift's  figure,  a  very 
full  church  empties  itself  confusedly.  The  absorb- 
ing contemplation  of  spiritual  things,  moreover, 
makes  one  abstract  and  absent-minded ;  so  that  the 
voice  that  should  reach  others  may  die  away,  dis- 
tinctly audible,  perhaps,  only  in  the  speaker's  own 
ear.  The  style  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  clogged  with 
abundance  and  parenthetical  interruption,  at  least 
plainly  indicates  how  worldly  and  shallow  hearers 
might  consider,  as  they  did,  his  "  speech  contempt- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.  125 

ible."  Surely  he  was  no  elocutionist,  and  would 
hardly  attain  to  the  glory  of  being  a  popular  preach- 
er at  the  present  day.  Socrates  —  the  admired, 
dreaded,  interrogative  Socrates,  chief  moral  inqui- 
sitor of  all  time  —  among  the  ancients,  and  Burke 
among  the  moderns,  are  instances  to  show  that  deep 
reflection  and  sharp  discrimination  are  not  favorable 
to  the  most  entrancing  eloquence  at  the  moment, 
though  the  periods  whose  weight  these  qualities 
forge  may  resound  in  the  ears  of  a  distant  pos- 
terity. 

Mayhew  certainly  often  interested  his  audience 
greatly  at  the  instant,  but  perhaps  not  in  full  pro- 
portion to  the  reach  of  his  meaning.  There  is  an 
eloquence  of  the  moment  merely,  and  there  is  an 
eloquence  of  the  years.  One,  who  had  listened  to 
a  distinguished  preacher,  likened  his  sentences  to 
successive  crashes  of  electricity  in  the  sky.  That 
with  Mayhew  there  were  such  outbursts,  we  are  well 
advised  ;  and  the  soul  can  seem  still  to  hear  the  dis- 
charges out  of  our  great  preacher's  silent  and  time- 
stained  page.  The  nature  of  Mayhew's  sentiments, 
however  inartificial  the  voice  in  which  they  were 
uttered,  woke  indeed  a  thousand  echoes  all  round 
the  horizon  :  but  there  was  a  more  than  Attic  salt 
in  his  persuasions,  and  a  solidity  in  his  ideas,  which 

11* 


126  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW, 

have  kept  them  unworn  and  incorruptible  ;  and 
scarcely  any  writings  contemporary  with  his  own, 
for  their  spirit  and  meaning,  are  more  worthy  of 
being  read  at  the  present  day. 

The  two  great  sentiments  that  burned  in  May- 
hew's  breast  were  patriotism  and  religious  devotion. 
The  circumstances  in  which  he  lived,  as  you  well 
know,  especially  signalized  his  love  for  his  country ; 
but,  great  as  that  indeed  was,  still  greater,  I  must 
say,  in  conclusion,  was  his  reverence  for  the  eternal 
statutes,  and  his  love  of  God.  Never,  certainly,  was 
any  similar  paper  graced  with  a  sentiment  of  more 
holy  felicity  than  that  in  his  Dedication,  to  the 
Young  Men  of  his  Parish,  of  his  Sermons  on  Chris- 
tian Sobriety  :  "  If  any  of  you,  after  hearing  and 
requesting  the  publication  of  these  Discourses,  should 
conduct  yourselves  unsoberly,  unrighteously,  and 
ungodly  in  the  world,  these  very  sermons,  and 
your  own  written,  signed  request,  will  be  as  swift 
witnesses  against  you.  You  will  be  judged  out  of 
your  own  mouths,  like  wicked  servants,  and  con- 
demned, as  it  were,  under  your  own  hands  and 
seals." 

Noble,  free,  loving,  dear,  and  devout  soul !  may 
thy  words,  by  young  or  old  of  this  generation,  be 
not    less   heeded  than  in  thy  own  !  —  for,  in  thy 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHtW.  127 

appointed  time,  thou  didst  speak  for  all  times  to 
come.  Truly  living  in  thy  brief  career,  when 
Death  approached  to  lay  on  thee  his  all-withering 
hand,  only  thy  flesh  dissolved  at  his  bidding ;  and 
only  thy  mortal  shadow,  before  his  unreal,  phantom- 
power,  passed  away.  The  brightness  of  thy  glory,  a 
beam  from  heaven,  remains  with  us,  as  stars  shine 
to  earth  while  they  make  lustrous  the  heavens ;  and 
thy  name,  here  as  on  high,  liveth  evermore. 


128 


NOTE     TO     PAGE     83. 


The  following  extracts,  from  a  private  letter,  I  thankfully  avail 
myself  of  the  writer's  kind  permission  to  publish  :  — 

"  Edgartown,  Martha's  Vineyard,  March  14,  1856. 

"  In  reply  to  your  request  for  genealogical  facts,  I  take  pleasure 
to  give  what  follows,  of  which  make  any  use  you  please  :  — 

Thomas  Mathew died  1682,  ae.  90. 

Rev.  Thomas  Mathew,  jun 1657,  ae.  37. 

Rev.  John  Mathew 1689,  ae.  37. 

Rev.  Experience  Mathew 1758,  ae.  85. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Mathew 1766,  se.  4G. 

Dr.  Mayhew  was,  therefore,  the  great-grandson  of  Apostle  Mayhew. 

"  Since  the  call  I  made  you,  and  which  has  pleasant  recollec- 
tions for  me,  from  the  kindness  and  virbanity  with  which  I  was 
received,  I  have  collected  many  additional  facts  of  interest  to  me  as 
a  Vineyarder ;  among  others,  that  it  is  correctly  claimed  for  May- 
hew that  he  preceded  Eliot  in  his  Indian  labors.  By  the  most 
reliable  authorities,  I  find  that  the  latter  commenced  his  labors  in 
1646  ;  but  we  know,  from  a  letter  of  Mayhew,  that  he  (Thomas 
Mayhew)  began  his  first  attempts  with  the  Indians,  in  imparting 
religious  instruction,  in  1643.  Some  writers,  willing  to  claim  every 
thing  for  Eliot,  say  that  he  commenced  about  the  same  time  to  labor 
among  the  Indians. 

"  As  to  that  cairn  of  stones  you  allude  to.  I^^ying  by  the  side  of 
the  highway,  some  five  miles  from  Edgartown,  westerly,  is  a  heap 
of  many  small  stones,  —  say  of  the  size  of  a  child's  head,  larger 
and  smaller,  —  which,  tradition  says,  was  placed  to  mark  tlie  spot 


NOTES    TO    DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW.         129 

where  Thomas  Mayhew,  the  apostle  to  the  Indians  on  Martha's 
Vineyard,  preached  his  hvst  discourse  to  the  Indians,  and  took  his 
leave  of  them,  to  sec  them,  as  it  proved,  no  more. 

"  It  was  a  tearful  parting ;  for  they  were  strongly  attached  to 
their  teacher,  and,  years  afterwards,  rarely  mentioned  his  name 
without  strong  emotions  of  love  and  respect.  They  had  accompa- 
Jiicd  him,  for  nearly  twenty  miles,  from  Gay  Head  ;  and  sorrowfully 
returned,  after  the  parting  was  over,  to  their  own  homes.  Mr. 
Mayhew  was  then  bound  to  England;  but  the  vessel  was  never 
heard  from  after  leaving  port.  Thus  perished  at  an  early  age,  in 
the  midst  of  his  useful  labors,  this  devoted  missionary,  whose  praise 
has  long  been  in  the  churches.  The  Indians  for  a  long  time,  a.s 
they  passed  the  spot  spoken  of,  would  add  a  stone  to  the  pile  that 
marked  the  spot  whore  la'^t  they  heard  the  sound  of  their  teacher's 
voice. 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  Richard  L.  Peask." 


NOTE     TO     PAGE    98. 


To  one  point.  I   feel  it  ray  duty  to  quote  from  a  letter  of  the 
•laughter  of  Dr.  Mayhew,  Mrs.  Wainwright :  — 

"  Respecting  my  father,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  clearest  evi- 
dence may  be  given  of  his  having  asserted  the  unity  of  God.  in  the 
most  unequivocal  and  plain  manner,  as  early  as  the  year  17.53.  I 
have  many  sermons,  from  which  it  appears  to  me  ko  one  could 
for  a  moment  question  his  belief.  I  have  a  set  from  the  text 
'  Prince  of  Peace.'  In  the  first  head,  he  inquires  how  Christ  came 
by  this  title.  He  sjicaks  of  independent  and  derived  authority,  and 
sajj.  'The  former  belongs  to  God  alone,  who  exists  necessarily 
and  independently.  The  Son  of  God,  and  all  beings  who  derive 
fhcir  existence  from  another,  can  have  onlv  a  derived  authoritv  ' 


130         NOTES    TO    DISCOTT.RSE    ON    DR.    MAYHEW. 


After  speaking  of  varioiis  sources  and  kinds  of  authority,  lie  says, 
'  Lastly,  another  source  of  authority  is  the  positive  will  and  appoint- 
ment of  God  Almighty,  the  supreme  Lord  and  Governor  of  the 
world  ;  and  this  is  indisputably  the  source  of  all  that  authority  our 
Saviour  is  clothed  with  :  his  designation  to  royal  power,  and  exalta- 
tion to  the  throne,  was  from  his  God  and  Father.'  I  can  quote 
many,  very  many,  passages  expressive  of  the  same  sentiment;  so 
that  I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  my  father  was  full  and 
explicit  in  his  avowal  of  this  opinion  from  1753  ;  and  perhaps  I 
may  gtt  positive  i^roof  from  an  earlier  date.  I  will  continue  my 
search,  and  shall  with  pleasure  supply  you  with  any  proof  in  my 
power  of  the  faith  he  was  happy  enough  to  enjoy,  and  courageous 
enough  to  avow  at  the  risk  of  his  temporal  comfort." 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.  HOWARD. 


DISCOURSE  ON  DR.  HOWARD. 


.Luke  ii.  29,30:   "Lord,  now  lkttest  thou  thy  skkvant  dei-art 

IN     PEACE,    ACCOHDING     TO    THY     W0UT>  ;      1  OI:     MINE     EYES     HAVE 
SEEN   THY   SALVATION." 

It  certainly  is  not  with  any  conceit  of  synonymous 
expression  or  a  verbal  felicity,  but  because  I  know 
of  no  Scripture  passage  more  appropriate  for  a  text 
to  the  character  and  history  of  Simeon  Howard, 
that  I  choose  these  words  of  the  good  prophet,  liv- 
ing so  many  centuries  ago,  for  whom  he  was  named. 
The  calm  and  peaceful  man,  succeeding  the  fiery, 
restless,  ever-contending  soul  of  Mayhew,  seems  like 
the  quiet  Solomon,  after  David,  the  mighty  soldier, 
coming  to  do  the  careful  and  deliberate  work  of 
rearing  the  temple,  which  God  would  not  trust  to 
the  hands  of  the  striving  and  warlike  king,  who  had 
yet  broken  and  cleared  the  ground  for  its  foundation. 
Mayhew,  indeed,  resembled  more  those  builders 
among  the  Jews  who  had  a  tool  in  one  hand,  and  a 
weapon   in   the   other ;  and  we  sometimes  question 

12 


134  DISCOUKSE    ON    DK.    HOWARD. 

whether  he,  priest  of  the  Lord,  when  he  opens  his 
mouth,  does  it  to  blow  the  gospel-trumpet,  or  to 
give  a  call  to  battle.  If  he  was  the  Paul  of  our 
ecclesiastic  dispensation,  Howard  was  the  John,  as 
his  Master's  beloved  disciple,  meek,  gentle,  and 
lowly ;  one  whom  we  cannot  imagine,  so  easily  as 
we  can  his  predecessor,  as  coloring  quick  with  indig- 
nation, greatly  stirred  within  himself,  and  rising  im- 
petuously, while  he  protected  the  injured,  to  drive 
back  the  foe ;  but  as  a  mild,  considerate,  forbearing 
soul,  steadfast  and  sincere,  yet  serenely  maintaining 
his  ground,  and  kindly  expressing  his  convictions. 

I  must,  however,  confess  that  the  decided  im- 
pression which  I  have  always  had  of  Howard's 
purely  soft  and  genial  temperament  is  somewhat 
modified  as  I  read  some  sentences  in  his  sermons 
which  express  the  most  unyielding  opposition  to  all 
tyranny,  and  maintain  the  civil  and  religious  rights 
of  men  to  the  uttermost  line  of  principle,  and  with  an 
absolute  tone  of  demand,  which  he  would  even  call 
in  the  sword  to  defend  from  every  unworthy  con- 
cession, and  which  reminds  us  of  his  predecessor's 
own  spirit.  His  meekness  never  degenerated  into 
cowardice  ;  his  caution  could  not  wear  the  livery 
of  fear.  Still,  he  himself  would  have  had  no  appe- 
tite for  the  fray  of  words  or  of  blows.     As  some  are 


DISCOURSE    OX    DU.    HOWARD.  135 

said  to  be  born  poets,  he  was  born  a  priest,  —  one  of 
those  in  the  Commonwealth  to  be  preciously  defended, 
rather  than  to  "  strive  or  cry,  and  let  their  voice  be 
heard  in  tlie  street,"  for  others'  defence ;  and  this 
energy  of  his,  to  which  I  have  referred,  was  that 
to  which  a  naturally  benignant  and  gracious  dispo- 
sition was  by  urgent  occasion  wrought  up,  like  what 
.  Scripture  calls  "  the  wrath  of  the  lamb."  Ordinarily, 
none  of  those  lightnings  which  at  any  time  only 
slept  in  Mayhew's  unfathomable  mien,  that  could  be 
so  overcast  and  cloudy,  played  around  him;  but  only 
bland  and  gracious  sunshine  fell  from  his  counte- 
nance. He  was  no  son  of  thunder,  —  though,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  career,  this  name  was  given  to 
John  himself,  —  but  of  consolation. 

Yet  this  man  of  inward  sobriety  and  natural  re- 
pose had  a  strangely  checkered  life,  and  a  story  in 
its  incidents  more  romantic  than  Mayhew's  own. 
He  was  indeed,  in  1767,  settled  here  in  the  mini- 
stry very  peacefully,  with  favor  far  larger  among  the 
theologians  than  greeted  Mayhew ;  for  it  brought 
together  all  the  invited  churches  but  one,  "  which 
was  unavoidably  prevented."  His  own  catholic  tem- 
per may  have  conciliated  towards  him  the  general 
good-will ;  for  he  too,  at  his  settlement,  was  re- 
garded by  several  of  the  clergy  as  heretical,  being 


lo6  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

reputed  both  an  Arian  and  an  Arminian,  —  a  believer 
neither  in  the  Trinity,  nor  in  the  divine  predestina- 
tion of  total  depravity,  and  necessary  ruin  to  any 
human  soul ;  though  it  is  said  that  President  Wil- 
lard,  not  long  before  Howard's  death,  remarked, 
"He  is  now  as  orthodox  as  other  ministers  of  his 
denomination,"  —  implying  a  change,  not  in  him, 
but  in  them. 

But  the  conflict  of  speculative  opinions,  going  on 
at  the  time  of  Howard's  ordination,  was  soon  dis- 
turbed and  interrupted  by  the  tokens  of  a  louder 
tumult ;  for  not  many  years  after,  our  very  chil- 
dren being  familiar  with  the  oft-repeated  dates,  came 
on  the  rough  and  bloody  times  of  the  great  Ameri- 
can Revolution.  The  whirlwind  Mayhew  foresaw, 
and  did  so  much  to  raise,  fell  upon  the  town,  and 
dispersed  the  people.  The  British  troops,  in  armed 
occupation  of  the  city,  made  of  the  West-Boston 
Church  a  barrack.  It  is  a  strange  commentary  on 
the  spirit  and  immediate  effects  of  war,  that  it 
should  turn  the  walls  of  Zion  into  the  towers  of  a 
castle  and  the  ramparts  of  a  fort ;  that  places  of  wor- 
ship should  so  often,  at  its  outbreak,  have  been  se- 
lected to  resound  with  the  clash  of  arms,  or  the 
indecency  of  soldiers'  jests  and  oaths,  as  the  enclo- 
sure  on  this   spot  once    resounded,  instead  of  the 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  137 

tones  of  prayer  and  the  praises  of  God.  Thus  shut 
out  of  the  fold,  the  flock  were  scattered,  and  part  of 
them,  with  their  shepherd,  took  refuge  in  Nova  Scotia  ; 
although  the  character  of  Howard,  as  a  patriot  and 
advocate  of  his  country's  independence,  was  so  well 
known,  that  he  was  hardly  suffered  to  depart.  We 
are  informed  he  had,  when  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry,  been  invited  to  preach  in  that  northerly 
region,  and  received  a  call  to  settle  with  them, 
which  he  declined.  Afterwards,  at  a  request  ot 
the  society  in  Annapolis  there,  he  had  provided 
them  with  a  minister,  whose  health  had  before  very 
long  obliged  him  to  leave  his  post.  In  the  distress 
and  perplexity  of  the  West-Boston  Church,  at  the 
military  invasion  of  their  sanctuary  and  their  homes, 
these  circumstances  suggested  to  their  leader's  mind 
the  region,  for  which  he  had  religiously  cared,  as  a 
city  of  refuge.  The  idea  was  adopted.  Pastor  and 
people,  save  those  necessarily  kept  behind,  em- 
barked. Wearisomely  for  a  month  they  tossed  upon 
the  waves ;  it  taking  them  three  times  as  long  to 
cross  the  Bay  as  it  now  takes,  with  the  foaming 
and  fiery-breathed  leviathan  of  art  we  have  con- 
structed, — 

"  Ilufrost  tliiit  swims  the  ocean-stroam,"  — 

to  measure  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Atlantic  Sea. 

12« 


138  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

How  picturesque  to  the  retrospective  imagination, 
how  trying  in  reality,  their  situation  !  In  this  un- 
molested shelter  of  our  growth,  we  can  ill  conceive 
a  condition  so  sadly  different  of  the  Christian  body 
which  we  in  our  day  and  generation  form.  A 
society  upon  the  waters,  like  a  floating  Bethel  of 
prayer;  a  temple  at  sea,  driven  of  every  shifting 
wind  ;  a  modern  exodus  from  the  oppressor,  not 
over  dry  land,  from  which  the  billows  had,  at  God's 
bidding,  fled  away  for  his  servants'  passage,  but  upon 
the  billows  themselves,  made  God's  messengers  to 
bear  them  to  a  haven  of  peace  !  What  were  their 
thoughts,  in  this  at  once  forced  alienation  and  volun- 
tary exile,  upon  their  voyage,  or  on  the  foreign  coast 
to  which  they  were  borne  ?  Not,  I  think,  those  of 
the  Israelites,  that  they  could  not  "  sing  the  songs 
of  the  Lord  in  a  strange  land ; "  but  rather  the 
Psalmist's  own  sentiment  was  theirs  :  "  Thy  statutes 
have  been  my  songs  in  the  house  of  my  pilgrimage." 
Repeating,  on  a  lesser  scale  indeed  of  outward  cir- 
cumstances, the  very  experience  of  their  and  our 
forefathers,  they  sought  a  place  where  they  could 
worship  God,  without  contradiction  or  fear,  accord- 
ing to  their  own  consciences.  We  are  apt,  for  sub- 
jects of  peculiar  or  entrancing  interest,  to  look  far 
away,  as  though  distance  and  foreign  adventure  were 


DISCOURSE    OX    DR.    HOWARD.  139 

to  them  essential.  "When,  for  example,  we  read  of 
the  Missionary  Judson,  sick  and  worn  out  with  long 
exposure  on  the  heaving  of  Oriental  gulfs,  our  hearts 
are  moved,  because  our  wonder  and  imagination  are 
excited.  But  materials  for  the  deepest  concern  and 
most  sublime  agitation  of  our  nature  ai'e  unawares 
at  our  very  door,  touching  those  to  whom  we  are 
most  familiarly  or  intimately  related.  A  band  of 
families  driven  from  their  dwellings,  a  church  in 
motion,  and,  like  the  dove,  finding  no  rest  for  the 
sole  of  its  foot,  can  make,  I  think,  the  Bay  of  Fundy 
a  scene  as  great  and  pure  in  the  eyes  of  God  or  man 
as  ever  was  the  Indian  Ocean  or  the  Red  Sea. 

They  arrived  at  their  destination,  to  be  saluted 
from  the  shore  with  cries  of  beggary  for  bread,  —  a 
destitution  of  which  had  arisen  from  the  closing  of 
the  Provinces,  —  yet,  as  they  landed,  to  be  very  kindly 
and  comfortably  entertained.  But  Mr.  Howard,  on 
the  ground  of  the  first  refusal  to  allow  him  to  leave 
Boston,  and  before  the  news  of  a  subsequent  per- 
mission had  reached  the  Governor  of  Halifax,  —  it 
being  feared,  from  an  intimation  in  Gen.  Gage's 
letter,  that  he  might  privately  escape,  and  so  poli- 
tical consequences  ensue  unfavorable  to  the  crown, 
—  was  arrested,  and  taken  to  Halifax.  Upon  a 
second  letter  of  explanation  from   the  general,  he 


140  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

was  at  once  set  at  liberty.  Before  this,  however, 
an  offer  had  been  made  for  his  rescue,  and  passage 
to  Machias  ;  but  it  was  declined  for  him  by  his 
noble-minded  wife,  who  was  doubtless  sympatheti- 
cally aware  what  would  be  her  husband's  feeling  in 
regard  to  any  such  covert  and  illegal  transaction,  — 
who  knew  his  consciousness  of  innocence,  and  was 
as  unwilling  as  he  himself  could  be  that  any  one 
should  be  exposed  to  danger  on  his  account.  The 
people  of  the  territory  itself,  where  he  was,  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  in  the  most  inflammable  con- 
dition ;  but,  as  he  saw  no  prospect  of  their  aflfairs 
being  mended  by  any  rebellious  proceedings,  the 
unrevengeful  man  labored  not  to  excite,  but  to  com- 
fort them  in  their  troubles,  and  to  act  the  part,  most 
congenial  indeed  with  his  temper,  of  a  religious 
teacher  and  adviser.  They  became,  for  his  work  of 
godly  simplicity  and  love,  greatly  attached  to  him  ; 
and,  although  it  was  but  for  fifteen  months  that  he 
discharged  among  them  the  pastoral  office,  they 
parted  from  him  with  a  grief  which  was  the  unam- 
biguous measure  of  their  cordial  affection. 

An  anecdote,  told  of  something  occurring  during 
his  residence  among  them,  shows  the  mingled  sin- 
cerity and  suavity  of  the  man.  Seeing  one  day 
some  young  men  putting  into  the  bundles  of  hay, 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  141 

which  they  were  screwing  for  the  troops  in-  Boston, 
stones  to  increase  the  weight,  he,  not  believing  it 
was  right  to  defraud  even  the  enemies  of  his  coun- 
try by  such  dishonesty  in  their  supplies,  —  though 
this  would  have  been  according  to  the  laws  of  war 
as  practised  in  all  ages,  —  so  benignantly  remon- 
strated with  'the  young  men  as  to  dissuade  them 
from  the  act  ;  and  it  is  thought  he  thus  banished 
for  ever  after  the  iniquitous  custom  from  that  whole 
neighborhood. 

Returning,  as  opportunity  allowed,  to  the  New- 
England  capital,  he  found  his  society  so  enfeebled 
by  death,  emigration,  and  other  causes  of  waste, 
that  it  was  doubtful  whether  even  the  remnant  could 
be  preserved ;  and  those  indeed  who  still  survived, 
and  adhered  to  the  church,  expressed  to  him  their 
judgment  that  it  was  best  to  surrender  their  post, 
and  dissolve.  Had  he  agreed  with  tliem,  and  this 
course  in  the  crisis  been  taken,  what  a  change 
in  those  destinies  of  that  worshipping  body,  which 
finally  in  their  long  reach  have  so  involved  us  ; 
which,  under  Howard's  earnest  and  faithful  mi- 
nistry, transformed  weakness,  ready  to  die,  into 
a  strength  that  never  declined  again  ;  which  by  the 
will  of  God  hold  and  bring  together,  for  all  the 
l)urposes  of  religious  fellowship  and  Christian  pro- 


142  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

cedure,  this  large  and  flourishing  assembly ;  and 
which,  we  trust,  will  continue  its  strong  existence  a 
blessing  to  the  community  for  thousands  of  years 
after  we  are  in  our  graves,  —  even  to  the  ''  last 
syllable  of  recorded  time  "  ! 

But  however  we  may  speculate  upon  the  diverse 
consequences  of  opposite  decisions,  and  see  the 
world  itself  hanging  as  upon  threads,  or  rather,  as 
it  does,  upon  the  invisible  and  airy  thoughts  of  the 
mind,  it  was  not  Howard's  sentiment  or  will  that 
the  society  so  dear  to  him,  reduced  and  desolated  as 
it  was,  should  be  broken  up.  The  matter  of  decision 
'lay  in  his  own  hands  ;  for  one  principal  reason,  that 
was  Avorking  in  their  thoughts  to  this  conclusion  of 
ecclesiastical  decease,  was  the  inability  of  the  peo- 
ple, so  impoverished  as  they  were,  to  support  their 
minister.  To  this  he  responded,  that  "  he  would 
receive  whatever  compensation  they  would  give  him, 
and  would  continue  with  them  while  three  families 
remained."  He  told  them  he  would  accept  such 
contribution,  as  might  from  time  to  time  be  made, 
in  full  remuneration  for  his  services ;  utterly  relin- 
quishing the  claim  of  any  agreement  the  Society 
might  have  made  to  pay  him  more.  Afterwards  he 
proposed  to  cancel  outright  a  considerable  sum  due 
him  :  but  to  this  they  would  not  consent ;   and  sub- 


DISCOURSE    OX    DR.    HOWARD.  143 

sequently,  in  more  prosperous  times,  all  was  paid, 
with  compound  interest. 

I  well  remember  the  enthusiasm  with  which  an 
honored  parishioner,  now  deceased,  referred  to  this 
magnanimity  of  Howard.  Thus  was  the  church 
here  saved,  as  every  thing  great  and  good  in  this 
world  is  and  must  be  saved,  by  personal  disinterest- 
edness and  self-sacrifice.  Had  the  minister  wished 
to  receive,  as  men  often  do,  more  than  belonged  to 
him  ;  had  he  even  insisted  upon  having,  as  men 
often  stoutly  declare  they  must  have,  what  seemed 
to  be  his  honest  due,  —  the  Society  Avould  have  been 
destroyed.  But  he  Avas,  on  the  contrary,  determi- 
nately  bent  on  receiving  less,  or  receiving  nothing, 
if,  like  the  debtor  in  Scripture,  they  had  nothing 
to  pay ;  and  himself  continuing  to  bestow  the  full 
labor  of  his  body  and  soul,  though  but  a  handful  of 
them  should  stay.  Surely  there  was  some  masterlv 
strength  of  will  and  authentic  quality  of  goodness 
in  the  soul  that  could  plant  itself  thus.  But  the 
triumphs  always  of  moral  principle,  of  Christian 
goodness,  exceed  all  the  achievements  of  vainglory 
and  selfish  aims. 

The  recuperated  Society  proved  indeed  that  it 
would  not  be  outdone  in  generosity.  On  either 
hand,  a  more  admirable  explanation  than  any  com- 


144  DISCOURSE    ON    DK.    HOWARD. 

mentator  ever  gave  was  had  in  real  life  of  the 
Scripture  texts :  "  Owe  no  man  any  thing,  but  to 
love  one  another ; "  and,  "  Let  us  consider  one 
another  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good  works." 
Finally,  Mr.  Howard  received  one  of  the  largest 
salaries  from  one  of  the  most  thriving  societies  in 
town.  This  result  of  success,  rather  than  of  pecu- 
niary compensation,  for  which  he  had  shown  that 
he  cared  nothing,  was  indeed  a  fitting  reward  for 
so  much  patience,  fortitude,  and  disinterested  devo- 
tion, as  he  had  displayed  under  circumstances  of 
trial,  in  which  no  man  could  have  combined  more 
that  wisdom,  which  in  the  Apocrypha  is  called 
"  a  loving  spirit,"  with  the  achievements  of  courage. 
A  good  captain  he  was  here  of  the  Lord's  elect. 
In  a  truly  seaworthy  manner  he  breasted  the 
changeful  gales,  and  steered  straight  through  the 
stormy  political  weather,  and  brought  his  good  ship's 
company  with  him  safe  into  harbor. 

For  a  number  of  years,  it  was  indeed  a  mournful 
state  of  things  for  all  the  churches,  and  for  religion 
itself,  in  the  colony  that  was,  with  such  pains  of 
growth,  transmuting  itself  into  a  nation.  But  the 
Pilgrims,  that  had  found  their  way  over  the  sea 
to  Plymouth  Rock,  were  not  doomed  utterly  to 
perish   or   to    lose    themselves    in   the   wilderness 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  145 

of  the  material  and  moral  world  to  which  that 
boundary-rock,  though  their  wished-for  bourn  of 
safety,  was,  moreover,  but  their  rough  and  dark 
entrance.  From  every  blast  that  blew  upon  them, 
like  the  little  vessel  in  which  they  had  been  brought, 
they  rose  to  pursue  their  course  with  renewed  cou- 
rage. This  Society,  in  its  distresses,  was  but  an 
example  and  illustration  of  the  general  lot.  Its 
temporary  sinking  from  before  the  blaze  of  strife 
that  always  puts  out  the  fires  of  religion,  but  reminds 
one  of  travellers  in  the  Arabian  desert,  who  pros- 
trate themselves  under  the  hot  simoom,  and  can  only 
lie  still  and  helpless  till  the  scorching  hurricane  be 
overpast.  So  was  it  with  the  travellers  towards  a 
better  country  that  once  on  this  very  spot  went  up 
to  the  house  of  God  in  company.  They  bowed  for 
the  season  that  it  was  given  to  the  Satan  of  persecu- 
tion and  arbitrary  power  to  rule  and  rage,  and  then 
lifted  their  heads  undismayed,  and  went  bravely 
forward.  "  Among  arms,  laws  are  silent,"  was  a 
motto  in  the  Roman  state.  Our  forefathers  found 
that  among  arms  the  voice  even  of  prayer,  the 
higher  law  of  Heaven,  —  for  such  a  law,  above  all 
human  conventions  and  statutes,  there  is,  —  could 
not  be  well  publicly  heard.  But,  thank  God  !  —  that 
hey  might  not  falter  in  the  hour  of  tribulation, — 

13 


146  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

it  had  been  heard  before  to  nerve  them  for  endurance 
and  heroism ;  and  it  broke  forth  afterward  in  strains 
of  eloquence  and  jubilant  thanksgiving  and  good- 
cheer,  all  the  more  mightily  for  having  been  tem- 
porarily interrupted  and  cruelly  choked;  while  in 
no  pulpit  was  the  inspiring  and  grateful  note  sounded 
out  more  cordially  and  clearly  than  in  that  erected 
on  this  very  ground  of  our  present  worship. 

No  doubt  Howard  found  the  even  tenor  of  pas- 
toral duty,  to  which  he  was  restored,  much  more 
suited  to  his  constitutional  temper  than  were  the 
surprising  events  and  exciting  times  through  which 
he  had  passed.  I  need  not  describe  that  round  of 
benedictions  in  a  faithful  minister's  life,  which,  ac- 
cording to  abundant  and  never-contradicted  testi- 
monies, none  trod  more  steadfastly  and  happily  than 
he,  dispensing  all  the  sacred  ordinances  and  consola- 
tions of  our  religion  to  whosoever  would  accept  or 
craved  them  in  their  sore  need  ;  and  —  whatever  in 
human  life,  from  age  to  age,  may  be  those  changes 
we  so  much  magnify  —  finding  sick-beds,  chambers 
of  sorrow,  and  graveyards,  to  be  essentially  the  same 
things  as  they  are  to  us. 

When  we  read  of  the  occurrences,  assemblages, 
speeches  and  celebrations,  or  of  the  lives  and  deaths, 
of  men,  in  a  long-past  period  of  the  world,  we  are  apt 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  147 

to  have  a  marvelling  notion  of  something  more  ro- 
mantic, adventurous,  or  spiritual,  than  the  common 
existence  "we  lead,  the  perils  we  meet,  or  the  jubi- 
lees we  solemnize.  Yet  human  nature  is  the  same  ; 
and,  for  all  mankind,  it  is  essentially  one  career  they 
pursue,  and  one  concern  they  tremble  with,  in  this 
mortal  span. 

Howard  bore  his  trials  patiently,  and  did  his  duty 
faithfully,  as  all  good  Christian  men  would  desire  to 
suffer  and  act.  His  preaching  Avas  sober,  practical, 
addressed  to  the  highest  sentiments,  and  having 
always  behind  it,  to  give  it  power  and  penetrating 
pathos,  a  man,  —  even  the  man  of  God.  He  was 
in  high  repute  among  others,  as  well  as  with  his 
ordinary  hearers  ;  and  his  services  were  sought  on 
great  and  important  occasions,  —  the  word  for  all  of 
which,  in  the  varying  demand  made  for  versatile 
talent,  he  spoke  with  such  satisfaction,  that  what 
had  been  uttered  with  the  lips  was  again  and  again 
earnestly  solicited  for  the  press.  I  have  read  these 
published  discourses,  with  an  opinion  of  his  ability 
rising  with  every  performance  I  have  successively 
perused,  till  I  was  obliged  to  accord  to  him  a  far 
higher  rank  for  talents  and  resources,  in  the  treat- 
ment even  of  profound  themes,  than  his  great  mo- 
desty and  moderation  would  be  willing  to  own,  or 


148  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

beforehand  seem  to  suggest.  All  quiet  men,  that, 
in  this  eager,  scrambling  world,  do  not  assert  them- 
selves, are,  in  the  general  esteem,  apt  to  have  injus- 
tice done  to  their  faculties,  as  compared  with  the 
loud-voiced  and  forth-putting  children  of  confidence 
and  self-love,  who  take  for  themselves  a  high  seat  in 
the  synagogue,  walk  boldly,  pressing  or  pushing 
doors  open  into  the  centre  of  our  hearts,  and  keep 
their  place  against  all  comers  if  they  can.  I  must, 
with  some  shame,  confess  that  the  retiring  character 
of  Howard  had,  by  a  sort  of  hereditary  transmission, 
if  I  may  not  improperly  call  it  so,  of  his  unpre- 
tending temper  to  the  cognizance  of  my  own  mind, 
induced  in  me  an  undervaluation  of  his  intellectual 
merits,  which  actual  study  of  his  works  has  tended 
greatly  to  raise  and  correct.  Yet,  mild  and  lowly 
as  he  was,  he  never  shrank  back  from  any  call  upon 
him  to  take  a  bold  and  manly  stand.  He  was  one 
of  the  warmest  aspirants  for  the  independence  of 
his  country;  and  his  sentiments  were  freely,  almost 
audaciously,  expressed.  The  feelings  of  his  forerun- 
ner certainly  did  not  stop  for  want  of  a  channel  in 
his  soul  to  flow  by  ;  but  there  was  an  apostolic 
succession  to  him  of  the  love  of  liberty,  in  church 
and  state.  With  the  pulpit  of  Mayhew,  he  had,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  say,  also  an  inheritance  of  price- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  149 

less  worth  in  Mayhew's  surviving  partner,  a  woman 
of  whose  worth,  as  a  lofty  and  heroic  counsellor,  an 
indication  has  already  been  cited,  and  in  whom,  I 
may  be  permitted  to  say,  outward  attractiveness  and 
inward  noble-mindedness  were  so  joined  as  to  be, 
what  in  rare  instances  of  personal  and  spiritual 
beauty  we  may  notice  they  sometimes  are,  almost 
one  and  the  same  thing.  His  funeral  discourse 
after  her  decease  shows  how  precious  he  esteemed 
the  treasure  that  had  thus  descended,  and  was  with 
the  keenest  sorrow  in  his  bleeding  heart  transported 
before  him  into  the  skies.  But  the  work  in  which 
he  had  enjoyed  Heaven's  choice  blessing  indeed,  of 
a  partner  having  inclinations  so  accordant  with  his 
own,  did  not  for  her  departure  slacken  in  his  hands. 
Rather,  as  he  tells  his  people,  he  hoped  to  be  "  more 
serviceable  to  them  in  the  work  of  the  ministry ; 
particularly  better  qualified  to  sympathize  with  and 
to  comfort  them  that  are  in  sorrow ;  which  I  should 
esteem  as  one  valuable  effect  of  my  affliction."  Cer- 
tainly there  could  not  well  be  a  less  fallacious  evi- 
dence of  sincere  consecration  to  his  ordained  work, 
than  his  disposition  to  make  such  use  of  a  grief, 
that  rent  away  his  prop  and  hope  in  the  prime  of 
his  own  life,  and  pierced  with  its  anguish  and  deso- 
lation to  the  very  foundations  of  his  soul. 
13» 


150  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  he  was  a  shepherd  that 

always  abundantly  fed  the  flock.     That  his  services 

could  have  been  of  no  low  or  ordinary  tone,  I  have 

indeed  one  proof  to  bring  of  the  most  unsuspicious 

character.      In    a    conversation,  which   it   was    my 

privilege  to  have,  with  the  venerable  John  Quincy 

Adams,  not  many  months  before  his  death,  he  told 

me,  with  evident   delight  of  recollection,  and   his 

strong  face  of  severe  integrity  mantling  with  smiles, 

in  such  a  countenance  of  peculiar  fascination,  how 

much   pleased   and  edified  in  the  former  years  he 

had  been  in  listening  to  the  discourses  of  Howard. 

Great   men   are   not    easily  instructed :    a  superior 

mind   is    the   most   terrible  of  earthly  tribunals   a 

speaker  can  face ;    for  no  mere  show  of  rhetorical 

gifts,  or  arts  of  speech,  can  deceive  his  judgment. 

Whatever  really  reached  the  seat  of  influence   in 

such  a  nature  as  that  of  Adams,  must  have  had  the 

two  CLualities  at  least  of  genuineness  and  strength ; 

and  I  prized  his  tribute,  as  that  of  a  discerning  and 

sincere  witness  for  one  whom  God   had   made  an 

ingenuous  and  able  minister  of  that  New  Testament, 

which  to  the  humble  pastor  and  to  the  great  civilian, 

that  so  well  presided  over  the  afiau's  of  this  people, 

was  equally  dear. 

From  a  careful  reading,  I  am  struck  at  once  with 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  151 

the  resemblance  between  Mayhew  and  Howard  in 
their  general  views  both  in  politics  and  religion, 
and  with  the  fact  that  they  belonged  to  different 
types  both  of  intellect  and  temperament.  Mayhew 
was  a  man  of  impassioned  genius ;  Howard,  of  sober 
understanding.  Mayhew,  no  doubt,  would  some- 
times hurry,  when  Howard  would  hold,  undisturbed, 
his  way,  whatever  wind  might  blow.  Howard's 
influence  was  like  a  steady  domestic  warmth,  diffus- 
ing itself  equally  at  all  points  through  the  house : 
Mayhew's  was  the  white  heat  of  the  furnace,  in 
which  massive  bars  of  iron  are  thrust  to  be  prepared 
for  the  anvil's  forge,  and  from  which  keen  sparkles 
may  dart,  burning  and  blinding,  into  the  face  of  one 
who  draws  nigh.  Admiration  exalted  into  amaze- 
ment, and  honor  running  into  pride,  may  have  been 
sentiments  that  could  not  help  mingling  with  the 
ardent  attachment  felt  by  the  church  for  Mayhew  : 
love  and  veneration  kept  Howard  calmly  folded  for 
ever  in  the  arms  of  their  cordial  and  constant  em- 
brace. It  is  sometimes  said,  with  truth,  of  men  who 
have  lifted  themselves  to  distinction  far  above  their 
fellows,  that,  with  multitudes  of  followers,  they  have 
no  personal  friends.  This  could  be  said  of  neither 
Howard  nor  his  predecessor.  But  while  the  part 
that  Mayhew  took,  and  the  flaming  zeal  with  which 


152  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

he  espoused  and  vindicated  it,  raised  up  adversaries 
not  a  few  to  hate  and  oppose  him,  as  well  as  earnest 
advocates  in  his  defence ;  it  could  scarcely,  I  think, 
be  in  the  heart  of  any  one,  who  knew  Howard,  to  be 
other  than  his  friend  ;  and  the  "  eminently  wise  and 
good  "  was  the  universally  beloved  man,  as  well  as 
the  endeared  shepherd  of  the  flock. 

Dr.  Willard,  President  of  Harvard  College,  one 
of  whose  sons  it  is  our  happiness  to  number  among 
the  members  of  this  church,  while  in  his  funeral 
sermon  he  celebrates  the  fine  scholarship  which 
Howard  had  displayed,  as  a  youth,  in  his  own  col- 
legiate course,  discourses  fondly  of  his  fidelity  for 
a  long  term  as  an  overseer  and  fellow  of  the  cor- 
poration, —  thus,  as  one  of  its  governors,  repaying 
the  benefits  he  had  received  as  a  pupil ;  commends 
his  singular  devotedness  to  the  duties  of  his  pa- 
rochial charge  ;  and  extols  the  patriotism  with  which 
he  bore  his  country,  as  well  as  his  flock  and  family, 
ever  in  his  heart.  He  also  dwells  upon  the  warm 
and  precious  friendship  whose  deep  and  holy  joy 
Howard  imparted  and  received,  and  a  peculiar  and 
most  intimate  bond  of  which  seems  to  have  united 
him  and  Dr.  Willard  himself  together,  —  a  senti- 
ment undying  on  earth,  immortal  in  heaven.  On 
one  occasion,  in  1798,  President  Willard  being  ex- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  153 

tremely  ill.  Dr.  Howard,  as  senior  clergyman  in  the 
corporation,  presided  in  his  place  at  the  public  exer- 
cises of  commencement,  and  announced  the  degrees  ; 
thus  happily  uniting  a  friendly  service  with  an  offi- 
cial duty. 

Dr.  Howard  died,  in  1804,  in  the  seventy-second 
year  of  his  age  ;  and  "  devout  men  carried  "  him  "  to 
his  burial,  and  made  great  lamentation  over  him." 
The  record  of  the  day  informs  us  that  every  token  of 
Christian  sorrow,  reverence,  and  love,  from  his  parish- 
ioners and  acquaintances  who  gathered  in  the  church, 
was  witnessed  over  his  remains,  and  rendered  to  his 
memory.  A  portrait  now  in  my  possession,  a  gift  to 
his  son's  family  from  an  old  friend  and  parishioner, 
who  has  long  since  followed  his  cherished  minister  to 
the  heavenly  world,  —  though,  in  extreme  old  age, 
he  sat  for  quite  a  number  of  years  within  the  sound  of 
my  own  voice,  —  expresses  the  meek,  lowly,  benign 
disposition  of  him  whose  actual  countenance  there  are 
those  still  living  to  remember  in  the  verity  of  its  ac- 
tual traits.  A  great  and  venerable  servant  of  God  and 
Christ  once  said,  he  was  not  anxious  that  his  face, 
on  the  painter's  canvas,  should  shine  with  a  look  of 
superior  intellect  or  genius ;  but  he  did  desire  it 
should  beam  with  a  light  of  kindness  and  love  upon 
his  fellow-creatures.     That  which  Channing  wished. 


154  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

and  indeed  had,  was  fulfilled  before  for  Howard,  who 
ended  his  earthly  ministry  just  as  Channing  was 
beginning  his.  For  benevolence,  the  moving  spirit 
of  the  West-Boston  pastor's  life,  could  not  fail  to 
speak  in  any  delineation  at  all  like  the  original ;  and 
my  eye  has  rested  to-day,  for  the  thousandth  time, 
upon  the  resemblance  of  his  features,  only  to  observe 
once  more,  in  the  cold  colors  and  dimmed  lines,  some 
shadowing  forth  of  the  charity  which  once  in  him 
walked  and  breathed,  spoke  and  acted,  among  men, 
and  which  of  all  things  moves  and  triumphs  longest 
in  this  world,  as  it  shall  without  ceasing  in  the  world 
to  .come. 

"  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace, 
according  to  thy  word ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation."  So  indeed  might  it  have  been  said  by 
one,  in  whom,  when  the  peace  of  God  came  to  his 
heart,  it  found  an  abode  naturally  framed,  and  well 
and  largely  fitted,  for  its  residence,  and  yet  who 
had  reached  only  through  outward  storms  of  afflic- 
tion and  calamity  that  peace  in  his  house  and  in  the 
temple  of  worship  which  he  must  always  have  en- 
joyed in  his  own  bosom.  Truly  he  had  seen  the 
salvation  of  the  Lord  for  himself,  for  the  people  of 
his  charge,  for  the  institution  of  worship  in  this 
place  committed  to  his  careful  and  laborious  stew- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  155 

ardship  iu  the  line  of  spiritual  workmen  after  the 
great  Master  and  Head  of  the  whole  church ;  and  we, 
coming  up  in  the  long  succession  as  ministers  or 
people,  have  but  entered  into  the  salvation  he  not 
only  himself  so  richly  tasted,  but  was  so  effectual, 
though  humble,  an  instrument  to  secure. 

I  feel  that,  as  a  religious  Society,  we  are  united  by 
a  tie  of  peculiar  and  inestimable  indebtedness  to  Dr. 
Howard.  As  we  own  a  special  obligation  to  the 
physician  who  has  carried  a  friend  safely  through 
the  crisis  of  a  dangerous  illness,  so  should  we  to  him 
who  was  the  instrument  of  our  preservation  in  the 
only  doubtful  and  perilous  hour  of  our  corporate 
existence.  Nay,  more :  by  all  we  enjoy  or  profit 
through  the  connection  in  which  we  are  here  held ; 
by  all  the  instruction  or  consolation  we  in  our  time 
have  from  these  ordinances  received ;  by  all  the  lio-ht 
and  preparation  for  heaven  in  which  those  dear  to  us 
participated  before  they  passed  on  ;  by  all  the  readi- 
ness of  willing  souls  to  folloAv  after  them  which  we 
may  hope  yet  to  acquire  ;  and  all  the  edification,  for 
earthly  duty  or  immortal  glory,  of  which  our  chil- 
dren to  the  latest  posterity  may  find  here  the  means, 

while  we  hold  in  grateful  respect  for  his  individual 
qualities  our  last-deceased  pastor,  we  are  bound  to 
see  in  his  providential  agency  one  medium  of  our 


156  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

fervent  and  continual  thanksgivings  above  all  mortal 
agencies  to  God. 

The  published  writings  of  Dr.  Howard  are  far 
less  voluminous  than  those  of  Dr.  Mayhew.  In  one 
of  his  sermons,  on  "  not  being  ashamed  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ,"  in  referring  to  the  fact  of  his  prede- 
cessor's subscribing  to  the  truth  of  Christianity  as 
among  the  evidences  of  the  religion  itself,  he  fur- 
nishes what  may  be  a  proof  to  you  that  I  have  not, 
in  my  earnest  celebration  on  last  Sunday,  overrated 
the  abilities  of  Mayhew  himself 

Being  called  to  preach  on  important  occasions, 
Howard  frequently  sounds  the  note  of  warning 
or  encouragement  for  the  liberties  of  the  country, 
and  does  not  forget  to  show  the  connection  of  true 
liberty  with  sound  learning ;  presenting  the  claim  of 
the  College  to  "  the  patronage  and  assistance  of  the 
State,  in  return  for  the  able  men  with  which  she  has 
furnished  the  public,"  —  an  argument  whose  vali- 
dity, let  me  say,  has  only  increased  continually  with 
the  lapse  of  time.  He  chastises  the  love  of  his 
countrymen  and  countrywomen  for  "  show  and  use- 
less ornaments,"  as  unbecoming  the  circumstances 
in  which  they  were  then  placed.  He  insists  on  the 
importance  of  a  fair  example  of  piety  and  virtue  in 
magistrates,  saying,  "  The  manners  of  a  court  are  pe- 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  157 

culiavly  catching,  and,  like  blood  in  the  heart,  quickly 
flow  to  the  most  distant  members  of  the  body ; " 
and  that  "  the  spirit  of  infidelity,  selfishness,  luxury, 
and  dissipation,  is  more  formidable  than  all  the  arms 
of  our  enemies."  On  preaching  an  Artillery  Ser- 
mon in  1773,  he  anticipates  the  time  "when  we 
must  either  submit  to  slavery,  or  defend  our  liberties 
by  our  own  sword."  Yet  he  hopes  "  the  people 
will  never,  of  choice,  keep  among  them  a  standing 
army  in  times  of  peace :  virtue,  domestic  peace,  the 
insulted  walls  of  our  State  House,  and  even  the  once 
crimsoned  stones  of  the  street,  all  loudly  cry  out 
against  this  measure."  But  the  topics  he  evidently 
is  most  pleased  to  treat  are  those  of  brotherly  love 
and  charity  ;  on  which  he  dwelt  so  pathetically  before 
the  Society  of  Masons  in  his  day,  that  his  discourse 
was  printed  at  their  unanimous  request. 

Dr.  Howard  served  his  fellow-citizens  and  fellow- 
men  in  many  ways.  But,  speaking  in  this  place, 
what  I  feel  called  upon  to  single  out  and  emphasize 
in  your  hearing,  is  that  legacy  of  the  spirit  of  con- 
cord and  union  which  he  left  to  this  religious  Society. 
Certainly  the  word  that  sounds  from  his  mouth 
down  through  all  the  ages,  to  all  the  members  of 
the  West  Church,  is  for  them  to  keep  together  ;  to 
stand  by  one  another  ;  not  to  give  up  the  vessel  of 

14 


158  DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 

common  safety,  in  which  they  sail  the  floods  of  time  ; 
not  to  be  separated  under  any  circumstances,  or 
allow  the  bond,  that  as  a  strong  cable  binds  them,  to 
be  broken  in  the  darkest  and  most  distressing  hour. 
My  friends,  let  me  indulge  what,  I  trust,  is  the  not 
unworthy  pride  of  saying,  that  into  possession  of  the 
legacy  he  left,  this  Society  has,  in  fact,  entered.  It 
was  a  substantial  and  most  honorable  bequest  from 
him,  not  of  words,  but  deeds.  May  we  not  only 
from  our  sires,  to  whom  he  ministered,  receive  it  as 
we  do,  but  hand  it  down,  a  blessed  inheritance,  to  our 
sons  and  latest  successors,  identical  as  it  is  with  that 
inalienable  and  infinitely  precious  property  of  peace 
the  dying  Jesus  himself  left  to  his  disciples !  Then 
our  fellowship  with  Jesus  will  be  perfect  in  the  spi- 
ritual ties  that  keep  together  whomsoever  they  draw 
to  him,  and  in  that  service  of  communion,  the  sim- 
ple and  expressively  beautiful  language  of  such  ties, 
which  we  speak  and  celebrate  this  day. 


159 


APPENDIX 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD. 


Extracts  from  President  Willard's  Sermon  at  Dr.  Howard's 
Funeral,  from  Rev.  ii.  10:  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death, 
and  i  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

...  I  doubt  not,  my  hearers,  you  have  applied  these 
observations  to  the  excellent  man  whose  funeral  obsequies 
we  are  now  attending  ;  whose  death  excites  general  sorrow 
in  this  town  and  neighborhood ;  and  which  penetrates  the 
hearts  of  the  members  of  his  flock,  and  more  especially  of 
his  most  intimate  friends  and  nearest  connections,  with 
pungent  grief.  And  to  whom  could  the  character  we  have 
described,  more  properly  belong  than  to  this  servant  of 
God,  who  was  faithful  in  all  his  house  ?  To  no  one,  must 
they  reply  in  their  hearts  who  have  intimately  known  his 
worth,  and  for  a  long  course  of  years  have  witnessed  his 
virtues. 

Dr.  Howard,  after  the  previous  preparatory  studies, 
was,  at  mature  age,  admitted  into  Harvard  College  in  the 
year  1754.  Heaven  had  endowed  him  with  a  good  under- 
standing and  inquisitive  mind;  and  he  had  formed  indus- 


160  APPENDIX    TO 

trious  and  methodical  habits.  With  such  talents  and  such 
habits,  he  could  not  fail  to  make  solid  and  valuable  acqui- 
sitions in  literature  and  science.  I  find  by  authentic 
documents  that  he  was  a  respondent  at  the  commencement, 
when  he  received  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts ;  and  it 
is  probable  that  he  had  the  same  appointment  when  he 
commenced  Bachelor  of  Arts.  After  leaving  the  College, 
he  was  an  instructor  of  youth  for  several  years ;  in  which 
time  he  studied  divinity,  and  prepared  himself  for  the 
desk.  After  preaching  in  several  vacant  parishes  in  this 
then  Province,  he  had  an  invitation  to  preach  in  the 
Province  of  Nova  Scotia.  He  went  to  that  province  ; 
was  there  about  a  year ;  and  received  an  invitation,  from 
the  people  among  whom  he  officiated,  to  settle  with  them 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry ;  but,  after  mature  considera- 
tion, he  thought  it  proper  to  decline  their  invitation. 

After  returning  to  his  native  province,  in  the  summer 
of  the  year  1765,  he  took  a  chamber  at  College,  and 
became  a  resident  graduate  at  the  time  when  I  received 
my  first  degree.  As  I  continued  at  the  College,  I  soon  had 
the  happiness  of  becoming  acquainted  with  him,  and  of 
forming  those  habits  of  intimacy  which  have  continued 
without  interruption  to  the  day  of  his  death.  At  that 
period  the  resident  graduates  were  numerous,  and  our 
intercourse  with  each  other  frequent ;  and  I  recollect  with 
pleasure,  that,  in  our  social  intercourse,  the  company  of  Mr. 
Howard  always  gave  us  the  sincerest  satisfaction.  May  I 
here  be  permitted  to  remark,  that  there  are  those  whose 
abilities,  acquirements,  and  real  worth,  attract  our  esteem 
and  respect,  but  to  whom  we  cannot  feel  an  affectionate 
attachment  ?  With  regard  to  our  feelings  towards  Howard, 
it  was  not  so :  while  we  respected  his  talents,  and  highly 
esteemed  him,  there  was  in  him  something  so  amiable, 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  161 

benevolent,  kind,  and  good,  that  it  was  impossible  to  be 
acquainted  with  him  and  not  to  love  him. 

About  a  year  after  Dr.  Howard  became  a  resident 
graduate,  he  and  the  present  speaker  were  elected  into 
the  office  of  Tutor.  This  gave  me  a  new  opportunity  of 
appreciating  his  worth.  The  duties  of  this  office  he  dis- 
charged with  great  fidelity  and  acceptance.  But  he  con- 
tinued in  that  office  but  for  the  short  term  of  nine  months. 
West-Boston  Church  and  Society  being  destitute  of  a 
pastor  by  the  lamented  death  of  the  learned,  distinguished, 
and  excellent  Dr.  Mayhew,  Mr.  Howard,  while  a  Tutor,  was 
invited  to  preach  to  that  Society.  They  soon  discovered 
his  talents  and  worth.  Trained  up  not  to  be  captivated 
with  mere  sound  and  tinsel  ornaments,  but  to  regard  solid 
sense,  and  discourses  abounding  with  sentiments  useful  and 
edifying,  they  judged  him  to  be  the  man  worthy  to  succeed 
their  deceased  pastor ;  and,  by  their  invitation,  he  took  the 
oversight  of  the  flock,  in  May,  1767.  Of  this  choice  they 
have  at  no  time  had  reason  to  repent ;  for  he  has  never 
deceived  their  expectations.  "While  they  have  loved  him 
as  a  man  and  a  friend,  they  have  highly  esteemed  and 
valued  him  as  a  wise,  judicious,  and  faithful  minister. 
Indeed,  this  man  of  God  did  not  undertake  the  sacred 
office  with  a  superficial  and  indigested  knowledge  of  divi- 
nity ;  but  he  was  a  well-studied  and  thorough  divine  ;  and 
this  his  discourses  clearly  evinced.  His  conscientious 
regard  to  duty,  joined  with  his  studious  habits,  would 
never  suffer  him  to  bring  to  his  people  crude  and  super- 
ficial discourses,  and  such  as  cost  him  nothing ;  but  they 
were  always  methodical,  clear,  full  of  good  matter,  calcu- 
lated to  inform  the  understanding  and  better  the  heart. 
None  could  hear  his  discourses  atid  not  be  edified,  unless 
such  as  preferred  doubtful  disputations,  and  strifes  about 
14« 


162  APPENDIX    TO 

words,  to  wholesome  doctrines  clearly  to  be  understood, 
and  those  precepts  of  Christianity  which  none  can  miscon- 
strue, and  which  inculcate  a  good  life.  "While  he  preached 
repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  great  foundation  of  the  sinner's  hope,  he 
inculcated  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  without  which  no 
man  can  see  the  Lord ;  and  exhorted  all  who  have  believed 
in  God  to  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works,  and  to  be 
eminent  for  practical  godliness. 

Candor  and  charity  were  conspicuous  traits  in  his  cha- 
racter. While  he  was  firm  in  the  belief  of  that  system 
which,  after  duly  searching  the  Scriptures,  he  thought  was 
contained  therein,  he  was  far  from  condemning  those  who 
could  not  in  all  points  agree  with  him  ;  and  he  embraced  in 
his  affections  all  good  men.  Though  far  from  thinking 
that  all  religious  opinions  are  equally  favorable  to  Chris- 
tianity, yet  he  was  fully  persuaded  that  unity  of  sentiment 
is  not  necessary  to  brotherly  love  and  friendship  ;  for, 
were  it  the  case,  the  best  men,  in  this  state  of  imperfection, 
would  often  be  alienated  one  from  another. 

In  the  discharge  of  parochial  duties  out  of  the  desk,  he 
was  conscientious  and  faithful.  To  this  his  flock  can  wit- 
ness, every  one  of  whom  he  was  ready  to  serve  at  all 
times  to  the  utmost  of  his  power.  "With  the  sick,  the 
sorrowful,  the  afflicted,  the  distressed,  he  heartily  sympa- 
thized, and  was  to  all  such  a  son  of  consolation.  He  was 
an  example  to  his  flock  in  following  after  righteousness, 
godliness,  faith,  love,  patience,  and  meekness  ;  and  in  all 
his  conversation  and  conduct  he  appeared  to  be  an  Israelite 
indeed,  in  whom  there  was  no  guile.  We  have  reason  to 
think  that  ail  those  virtues  which  he  exhibited  were  the 
fruits  of  a  heart  right  with  God,  which  had  been  sanctified 
by  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  163 

The  University  feels  a  deep  wound  in  the  death  of  this 
excellent  man.  For  a  long  course  of  years  has  he  been 
one  of  its  Governors,  as  an  Overseer,  and  as  a  Fellow  of 
the  Corporation ;  and  with  great  fidelity  has  he  attended 
to  its  interests,  which  ever  lay  near  his  heart.  For  almost 
twenty-three  years  have  I  been  witness  to  his  important 
services  in  both  Boards,  and  have  always  found  him  ready 
to  devote  his  time  and  labors  to  promote  its  well-being. 
The  business  of  the  College  causes  meetings  of  the  Cor- 
poration to  be  much  more  frequent  than  those  of  the  other 
Board.  Seldom  has  he  been  absent  when  called  to  attend, 
and  never  without  good  reasons.  His  judgment  has  al- 
ways been  highly  regarded ;  and  his  loss  must  be  most 
sensibly  felt  by  all  who  belong  to  that  body. 

May  I  be  indulged  for  one  moment,  on  this  mournful 
occasion,  to  mention  my  own  personal  grief?  Connected 
by  intimate  friendship  with  Dr.  Howard  for  many  years, 
I  now  find  one  strong  cord  broken  which  has  bound  me 
to  earth.  Faithful  has  been  his  friendship  to  me  under  all 
circumstances  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  all  who  have 
been  favored  with  his  friendship  can  say  the  same  as 
it  respects  themselves  :  for  unsteadiness  and  caprice  were 
no  parts  of  his  character.  In  him  I  could  safely  confide 
at  all  times  ;  to  him  I  could  unbosom  myself  with  freedom : 
for  he  was  sincere,  and  could  never  deceive.  Alas,  my 
brother !  thou  wast  very  dear  to  me ;  and  how  can  I  say 
thou  art  no  more  ? 

Permit  me  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  the  character 
of  Dr.  Howard  as  it  respected  politics ;  for  politics  are  not 
alien  from  the  profession  of  divinity.  Ministers  are  citi- 
zens as  well  as  other  orders  of  men,  and  ought  to  be 
concerned  for  the  welfare  of  their  country.  This  neces- 
sarily in   some   measure   involves   them   in   its   political 


164  APPENDIX    TO 

concerns.  Dr.  Howard  was  a  true  patriot.  He  was  an 
early  assertor  of  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and,  when 
our  rights  were  invaded,  was  strenuously  opposed  to  yield- 
ing them  up.  He  heartily  engaged  in  promoting  the 
American  Revolution,  and  rejoiced  at  the  emancipation  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  their  inde- 
pendence. But,  while  he  has  been  a  firm  supporter  of 
true  Uberty,  he  has,  of  consequence,  been  warmly  opposed 
to  that  false  liberty  which  directly  tends  to  licentiousness, 
and  which  sooner  or  later  ends  in  despotism. 

Finally,  Dr.  Howard  has  been  faithful  to  every  trust, 
whether  of  a  private  or  public  nature.  He  has  been  the 
Treasurer  of  several  societies  instituted  for  humane  and 
benevolent  purposes ;  and  he  has  taken  the  best  care  of 
the  interests  of  those  societies,  and  has  conducted  himself 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  members. 

In  exhibiting  the  character  of  this  good  man,  my  hear- 
ers, my  intention  has  by  no  means  been  to  offer  the  incense 
of  fulsome  adulation  to  his  memory,  but  whatever  has 
been  uttered  has  been  from  the  sincerity  of  my  heart ; 
and  I  am  persuaded  that  those  who  intimately  knew  him, 
of  whom  there  are  many  present,  will  not  charge  me  with 
attributing  to  him  valuable  qualities  which  he  did  not 
possess,  or  exaggerating  his  virtues.  Indeed,  I  have  said 
nothing  respecting  any  failings:  but  failings  he  doubtless 
had ;  for  these  are  the  lot  of  humanity ;  and  the  best  men 
in  this  state  of  imperfection  are  not  free  from  them, 
because  they  are  sanctified  but  in  part.  But,  whatever 
his  failings  may  have  been,  they  were  so  few  as  to  be 
almost  swallowed  up  or  covered  by  that  assemblage  of 
virtues  which  he  possessed,  and  which  were  apparent  in 
his  life.  Dr.  Howard  was  confined  but  a  few  days  with 
the  disorder  which  terminated  his  life,  and  he  had  but 


DISCOURSE    ON    DR.    HOWARD.  165 

a  short  warning  of  his  dissolution.  But  we  trust  that 
preparation  for  a  better  world  was  not  put  off  till  this  last 
sickness,  but  that  he  had  for  a  long  time  lived  in  an  habi- 
tual readiness  for  his  great  change ;  so  that  Death,  which  is 
called  the  king  of  terrors,  was  no  terror  to  him.  "We  trust 
that,  when  his  soul  left  the  body,  it  ascended  to  his  Lord, 
and  that  he  pronounced  upon  him  this  eulogy  :  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant !  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord.  Thou  hast  been  faithful  unto  death ;  and  I  now 
give  thee  the  crown  of  life." 

To  the  Association  to  which  the  deceased  servant  of 
God  belonged,  and  of  which  he  was  the  senior,  I  know 
that  this  stroke  must  be  peculiarly  grievous.  You  had  a 
very  affectionate  regard  for  him  while  living ;  and  I  am 
persuaded  you  will  long  cherish  the  remembrance  of  him 
in  your  bosoms.  I  pretend  not  to  be  your  monitor ;  but  I 
am  persuaded  that  this  solemn  memento  will  excite  you  to 
renewed  diligence  and  zeal  in  the  service.  May  you  con- 
tinue to  be  faithful  to  God  and  to  the  souls  of  men,  and 
may  he  crown  your  labors  with  abundant  success !  and 
may  you  hnally  receive  a  crown  of  glory  which  shall  never 
fade  away  ! 


A  DiscouKSE  upon  the  character  of  Dr.  Howard  was  also  preached 
by  the  truly  excellent  and  venerable  Dr.  Freeman,  who  pays  to  his 
brother  a  tribute  so  simple,  cordial,  and  beautiful,  that  I  have  to 
resist  a  strong  temptation  in  refraining  to  transcribe  it.  But,  as  it 
is  among  Dr.  Freeman's  published  WTitings,  it  may  undoubtedly 
be  found  by  any  who  may  be  interested  to  read  it ;  although  copies 
of  the  works  of  the  wise  and  lowly,  bold  and  beloved,  minister  of 
King's  Chapel,  are,  I  suppose,  becoming  somewhat  rare. 


THEOLOGICAI.  AND   ECCLESIASTICAL   TOSITION   OF 
THE   WEST   CHURCH. 


THEOLOGICAL  AND  ECCLESIASTICAL  POSITION 
OF  THE  AVEST   CHURCH. 


Gal.  V.  1 :  "  Stand  fast,  therefore,  in  the  libertt  wherewith 
Christ  H/Vtu  made  us  free,  and  be  not  entangled  aoaut 
with  the  yoke  of  bondage." 

In  my  previous  Discourses,  I  have  held  forth  the 
figures  of  individuals,  ministers  of  this  church.  I 
should  fail  of  strict  justice,  and  but  partially  accoin- 
plish  my  object,  of  reviving  the  spirit  of  the  foregoing 
times,  if  I  did  not  in  a  more  than  incidental  way 
give  you  some  picture  of  the  church  itself.  It  the 
more  becomes  me  to  do  this,  because  the  republican 
doctrine,  that  the  community  makes  the  great  men, 
not  great  men  the  community,  was  never  more  re- 
markably verified  than  on  these  shores.  The  laity 
here,  indeed,  constituted  the  church :  the  clergy  were 
their  organs,  representatives,  their  courageous  lead- 
ers, yet  rejoicing  to  be  but  so  many  units  from  among 
themselves. 

16 


170  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

The  Christian  liberty  announced  in  our  text,  is,  in 
one  brief  phrase,  the  very  chronicle  of  this  land,  and 
peculiarly,  I  must  say,  of  this  Christian  body.  If  I 
begin  with  what  any  of  you  may  think  general 
views,  let  it  be  considered  that  never  before  in  the 
world's  annals  was  a  people  established  so  much 
upon  principles ;  and,  if  I  seem  to  go  back  of  our 
own  direct  origin  as  a  Society,  let  it  be  remembered 
that  a  child,  born  in  the  first  generation  after  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  might  have  been  seen  as 
an  old  man  by  the  child  that  should  grow  up  to  be 
himself  among  the  founders  of  this  very  church ; 
and  that  the  gulf  stream  of  the  original  influence, 
which  brought  our  fathers  hither,  must  have  been  ope- 
rating with  a  scarcely  diminished  pressure  on  the 
minds  of  those  predecessors  of  ourselves,  whose 
faces  may  have  been  seen  by  the  old  men  whose 
bodies  we  have  but  just  laid  to  rest  in  the  grave. 
I  go  back  in  the  story ;  for  the  whole  story  is  short. 

In  attempting  to  sketch  the  religious  history  of 
this  Society,  which  in  a  few  years  will  be  a  century 
and  a  quarter  old,  I  must  therefore  necessarily  search 
a  little  into  the  ancient  root  from  which  it  is  but 
one  of  a  multitude  of  the  flowers  that  have  grown. 
Religious  history  it  may  well  be  called ;  for  never 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world  was  the  character  of 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  171 

any  land  shaped  and  determined  by  religion  more  than 
that  of  New  England.  Mighty,  and  as  yet  I  trust  un- 
spent, was  the  influx  of  piety,  of  the  feeling  for  God, 
which  flnce  swept  through  these  borders.  This  was 
not  only  a  New  England,  but  a  new  Canaan.  Nor 
did  the  Hebrews  themselves,  whose  language  our 
fathers  were  so  fond  of  quoting,  when  following  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  more  sensibly  than  our 
progenitors  realize  the  presence  and  support  of  the 
Almighty.  In  both  cases,  it  was  suffering  that  opened 
the  springs  of  devotion.  The  rod  of  Jehovah,  in- 
deed, as  the  Psalmist  says,  comforted  them  ;  for  it 
was  light  and  merciful  after  the  causeless  and  malig- 
nant blows  of  the  oppressor.  Let  God  chasten  us, 
they  looked  up  and  cried,  and  no  human  tyranny ! 
Let  the  severities  of  Providence,  in  storm  and  dis- 
aster, be  our  discipline,  not  the  cruelties  of  perse- 
cuting man  !  Even  in  all  they  endured,  there  was  a 
fitness  for  what  they  were  called  to  do.  A  time  of 
trouble,  however  arising,  is  always  the  occasion  of  a 
new  sense  of  Deity,  and  of  a  sublime  leaning  on  the 
eternal  arm.  So  the  anguishes  of  our  Pilgrim  sires 
were  sanctified  to  them  and  to  us.  In  their  dis- 
tresses they  cried  unto  the  Lord.  No  wonder  they 
dropped  the  formularies  and  rubrics  and  canons  of 
the  old  church,  in  the  time  of  their  calamity.     Men 


172  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

must,  like  sinking  Peter,  make  some  spontaneous, 
unprescribed,  unprinted  prayers,  in  their  sharp  grief 
and  misfortune.  "  Thou  hast  thrust  sore  at  me  ;  but 
the  Lord  is  become  my  salvation."  Such,  wlten  their 
souls  went  for  solace  to  the  Bible,  was  their  song  in 
the  wilderness  of  waters,  and  the  cold  barren  desert 
of  the  land. 

"Woe  unto  us,  if  our  happy  fortunes  make  us  un- 
mindful of  their  devotions !  If,  in  these  our  easy 
and  sunny  days  of  prosperity  and  earthly  power ;  in 
the  swelling  of' our  gains  on  one  side,  to  issue  in 
streams  of  luxury  at  the  other ;  if,  in  our  individual 
aggrandizement  or  the  extension  of  our  public  ter- 
ritory, we  become  irreligious,  sceptical,  and  worldly- 
minded, —  it  will  be  an  instance  of  as  gross  and 
grievous  ingratitude  as  ever  existed  in  the  annals  of 
mankind.  To  forget  the  rock  from  which  we  were 
hewn,  would  show  the  very  sublimity  of  a  profane 
thanklessness  to  amaze  the  earth,  and  be  an  asto- 
nishment in  the  light  of  heaven. 

We  are  told  that,  in  some  past  geological  age,  a 
vast  deluge  rolled  athwart  this  northerly  region  of 
our  abode,  —  as  it  passed,  like  an  avalanche  of  nature, 
moulding  the  hills  and  valleys,  sharpening  the  inland 
peaks,  and  indenting  the  Atlantic  shore  ;  and  that 
on  the  primeval  granite,  where  it  is  laid  bare,  the 


THE   WEST    CHURCH.  173 

deep  scratches  of  this  broad  and  tremendous  slide 
are  yet  clearly  disclosed.  Hardly  less  decisive,  or, 
let  us  hope,  less  enduring,  than  this  outward  irrup- 
tion, was  the  descent  here  of  the  Puritan  soul,  the 
current  of  Puritan  conscience  and  devotion,  through 
the  moral  world.  The  inheritor  of  an  estate  holds 
of  some  previous  owner.  Whether  we  will  or  no, 
we  hold  of  the  Puritans,  as  much  as  Paul  was  a 
Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews.  Sometimes  we  hear,  even 
among  ourselves,  aversion  expressed  to  the  character 
of  those  stern  testators,  of  whom  we,  in  all  that 
makes  the  distinctive  moral  type  of  this  whole  ter- 
ritory, or  spreads  that  type  to  the  southern  cross  or 
the  setting  sun,  are  the  offspring.  But  it  will  never 
do  for  a  man  to  decry  his  origin.  "VVc  bear  not  the 
root,  but  the  root  us.  We  must  take  our  hereditary 
fortune,  with  whatever  there  may  be  in  it  of  good 
or  ill ;  and  we  have  reason  to  be  content  with  the 
excess  of  good  in  the  spiritual  homestead  that  has 
come  down  to  us.  I  am  not,  indeed,  anxious  to  deny 
that  the  Puritans  had  faults  as  well  as  virtues  ;  and 
in  that  land,  whose  arbitrary  power  in  matters  of  faith 
and  worship  the  Puritans  could  not  abide,  and  there- 
fore forsook,  —  as  the  historian  tells  us  the  greatest 
reformers  England  ever  saw,  who  afterwards  revolu- 
tionized that  country,  were  on  the  point  of  forsaking 
16* 


174  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

it,  —  the  public  journals  have  not  yet  ceased  to  stig- 
matize the  Puritans  for  the  errors  of  intolerance  and 
superstition  into  which,  in  the  very  name  of  a  purer 
religion,  they  so  lamentably  fell.  Those  errors, 
traced  in  some  sad  marks  in  our  own  authentic 
chronicles,  I  have  no  wish  to  deny  or  cover  up. 
Let  us  confess  them  freely,  and  be  sorry  for  them,  — 
we  who  belong  to  a  race  in  all  its  doings  so  imper- 
fect, that,  even  in  its  best  services,  there  is  something 
of  which  to  be  ashamed.  But  we  very  well  know 
that,  in  the  comparison  of  individual  characters,  there 
are  some  men  from  whose  excellences  we  may  sub- 
tract their  faults,  and  leave  a  mass  of  virtue  exceeding 
all  the  worth,  discoverable  by  the  nicest  microscopic 
examination,  in  other  uncriticized  and  most  respect- 
able persons.  So,  take  away  the  Puritan  mistakes, 
and  you  have  still  remaining  a  sum  of  integrity, 
which  outweighs  the  deserts  of  all  their  enemies  and 
censors.  We  love  our  fathers  for  a  certain  huge 
substantial  excellence.  They  were  giants  in  their 
days ;  and  we  admire  the  giants  for  their  solid 
merits,  whatever  be  the  deduction  of  their  faults, 
more  than  we  can  feeble  men  who  may  be  at  once 
blameless  and  worthless.  The  first  demand  we  make 
of  a  fellow-creature  is  that  he  be  sincerely  some- 
thing ;  the  second,  that  he  be  something  good. 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  175 

There  is,  no  doubt,  a  Puritanism,  so  called,  which 
has  the  harshness,  with  none  of  the  grandeur,  of  the 
original  stock.  There  have  been  persons,  not  a  few, 
stunted  and  bitter  specimens  of  the  Pilgrims,  proud 
of  their  ancestry,  and  professing  to  continue  the  line, 
which  they  prove  to  be  but  degenerate  and  poor. 
But  when  the  old  sins  of  prejudice  and  bigotry,  that, 
like  mosses  on  the  primeval  woods,  infested  noble 
and  gigantic  minds,  are  ingrafted  on  or  eat  into  a 
narrow  nature,  and  we  have  living  specimens  of  the 
Puritan  vices,  without  the  Puritan  virtues ;  when 
the  exclusiveness,  into  which  our  forerunners  were 
tempted  in  sore  extremities  of  their  peril  and  woe,  — 
while,  because  of  strange  and  new  heresies,  they  be- 
held all  at  stake  in  the  commonwealth  of  freedom  and 
religion  they  had  come  so  far  to  set  up,  —  re-appears 
now  in  a  prosperous  sect,  and  the  sour  dogmatists, 
that  would  make  for  themselves  and  their  friends 
alone  a  little  door  into  heaven,  mock  the  awful  forms 
that  once  strode  ghostly  over  the  earth  to  avenge  the 
sins  and  alter  the  fortunes  of  mankind  ;  when,  in 
short,  Puritanism,  in  those  who  count  themselves  the 
saints  and  elect  favorites  of  Heaven,  becomes  a  sickly, 
self-conscious  thing,  instead  of  a  grand  and  solemn 
consecration  of  the  soul  to  God,  —  it  is  a  mournful 
spectacle,  for  which,  I  think,  the  Puritans  have  not 


176  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

been  held  accountable  at  the  bar  of  God,  and  should 
not  be  summoned  to  answer  at  any  tribunal  on  earth ; 
for  it  is  a  result  not  begotten  by  the  whole  spirit  of 
our  sires,  but  born  of  a  mother  of  modern  iniquity. 
There  are  trees,  which,  when  they  cease  to  bear  the 
fruit  that  may  have  been  generous  and  sweet,  are 
found  to  have  nothing  but  an  acrid  quality  in  their 
bark  and  leaf.  The  virtues  of  the  Puritans  were 
from  God  their  own ;  their  faults  bore  the  universal 
stamp  and  superscription  of  their  age.  If  any  one 
say  their  faults  were  great,  I  reply.  The  virtues 
which  those  faults  deformed  were  immense,  with 
proportions  which  no  near  and  narrow  look  can 
comprehend.  One  standing  close  to  a  mountain  may 
discern  only  some  rocky  chasm  or  frightful  seam 
that  disfigures  it,  and  not  the  magnificent  and  pei'- 
fect  shape  shining  through  the  perspective,  blue  and 
beautiful  as  the  dome  of  heaven  to  the  justly  distant 
beholder.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  Puritan  man- 
hood has  passed  away,  and  can  never  be  precisely 
imitated  or  reproduced.  No  more  have  the  Papal 
thunders,  once  launched  at  loftiest  heads  from  the 
arm  of  Hildebrand,  lowered  their  tone  in  the  Romish 
see  of  our  day,  than  the  theological  authority  the 
Puritans  wielded  has  sunk  to  a  whisper  in  the  mouth 
of  any  present  sect,  however  dominant. 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  177 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  counted  the  good  fortune  of 
our  Society,  that,  being  old,  it  is  yet  no  okler  than  it 
is.  It  grew  up  after  the  ascetic  temper  of  religion 
in  the  land  had  somewhat  purged  itself,  and  the 
demons  of  superstition  and  persecution,  that  haunted 
the  dwellings  and  possessed  the  souls  of  some  of  our 
forefathers,  had  been  well  nigh  cast  out.  Exile  and 
fines  and  whipping  and  hanging,  for  opinion's  sake, 
were  looking  odious,  as  they  really  were,  in  the  eyes 
of  all  good  men  ;  the  punishments  inflicted  on  the 
Quakers,  and  other  of  the  Dissenters  of  Dissent,  were 
incurring  only  shame  ;  while  in  saintly  vision  some 
rays  of  glory  were  gathering  as  a  halo  round  the 
martyi'-heads  of  the  punished.  For  more  than  fifty 
years,  those  called  heretics  had  remained  in  the 
Colony  unmolested.  Roger  Williams  had,  just  a  cen- 
tury before,  though  by  flight  to  another  State,  main- 
tained the  extreme  and  almost  intolerant  rights  of 
the  individual  conscience.  The  delusions  of  witch- 
craft had  passed  away ;  and  many  would  gladly,  if 
they  could,  have  washed  away  with  tears  the  stains 
from  the  statute-book,  and  the  sometimes  dark  records 
of  civil  judgment.  In  a  period  thus  comparatively 
free  from  religious  extravagance,  yet  when  the 
strength  of  the  religious  sentiment  had  not  abated, 
was  planted  this  branch  of  the  vine,  to  grow  up  and 


178  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

flourish  for  a  while,  then  to  be  trodden  under  foot  of 
foes,  but  to  revive  again,  and,  as  we  trust,  be  hence- 
forth fruitful  for  ever. 

An  ancient  record,  lent  me  by  one  of  my  friends 
now  worshipping  here,  of  the  building  of  our  pre- 
sent meetiug-house,  though  almost  purely  a  business 
document,  to  a  reader  interested  in  its  subject  is  yet 
full  of  historic  significance.  It  shows  how  impor- 
tant then  was  the  rearing  of  such  an  edifice,  in  the 
emphasis  in  its  entries  laid  upon  every  trifling  cir- 
cumstance relating  to  the  structure,  to  the  individuals 
who  took  part  in  it  with  their  hands  or  means,  to  the 
occupants  of  pews  in  the  former  house,  and  the 
distribution  of  seats  in  the  new,  with  memorials  of 
every  person's  particular  agency,  in  nearly  all  cases 
most  creditable ;  while,  in  regard  to  some,  stands  a 
note  of  reminiscence,  so  keenly  worded  that  the  yel- 
low-papered volume  seems  to  turn  into  a  book  of 
judgment  in  one's  hand,  or  to  have  received  some 
transcript  strangely  from  the  eternal  register  on 
high. 

It  would  be  a  pleasant  task,  were  it  one  which  my 
limits  allowed  and  to  which  my  mind  was  compe- 
tent, to  present  this  church  as  it  stood  in  association 
with  other  churches,  and  to  portray  the  many  able 
and  pious  men  in  the  ministry  who   shed  a  lustre 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  179 

upon  the  nation's  youth  in  the  early  period  of  our 
still  dependent  existence.  But  I  cannot  give  even 
the  names  of  pastors  or  churches  ;  nor  need  I  repeat 
the  tributes  -which  have  been  candidly  rendered  to 
not  a  few  of  them  by  others.  I  can  only  say  this 
was  one  of  the  churches  shaped  after  the  pattern  of 
Independency  in  England  and  Holland,  and  called 
Congregational  churches,  because,  while  not  subject 
to  each  other's  control,  they  called  each  other  into 
congregation  for  aid  and  counsel  in  time  of  need ; 
although  the  word  congregational,  in  our  use  of  it, 
seems  to  indicate  rather  the  freedom  of  each  par- 
ticular Christian  body,  and  of  all  the  members  by 
which  it  is  constituted. 

I  need  not  say  that  the  theology  of  our  fathers 
was  of  a  very  grave  and  sober  tint ;  yet  it  does  not 
appear  that  the  darkest  doctrines  respecting  God's 
disposition  or  human  nature  were  ever  preached  in 
the  space  enclosed  by  these  walls.  The  great  Gene- 
van was  never  installed  as  absolute  authority  in  the 
West  Church,  llather  the  ancient  principles  of  inde- 
pendence and  liberality  made  the  basis  of  the  Society, 
as  the  stones  of  the  everlasting  rock  did  of  their 
building.  Yet,  in  rejoicing  to  disown  for  our  fore- 
runners or  for  ourselves  the  gloomy  faith  of  Calvin- 
ism, it  were  unjust  and  thankless  did  we  fail  to  note 


180  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

how  mucli  of  power  and  glory  for  this  land  have 
moved  forth  out  of  that  deep  shadow.  If,  as  is  some- 
times said  of  a  cold  and  stormy  country,  it  be  a  good 
faith  to  leave,  such  is  human  nature,  that  it  may 
have  also  been  a  good  one  for  many  to  have  had 
in  it  their  birth  and  nurture. 

This  church  was  called  the  West  Church,  or  West 
Boston,  because,  when  it  was  founded,  it  composed, 
and  seemed  identical  with,  this  whole  part  of  the 
town.  Beneath  the  eaves  of  this  one  sanctuary 
lived  a  population  occupying,  with  their  scanty  ha- 
bitations, a  territory  now  densely  crowded  with  the 
dwellings  and  industrial  pursuits  of  fifty  thousand 
persons,  —  a  territory  Avhich,  in  the  multiplication 
of  human  activity,  has  pushed  itself  into  the 
sea,  driving  back  its  waters,  and  continuing  itself 
by  bridging  them  in  all  directions  for  countless 
vehicles,  and  carriages  of  fire.  The  little  part  of 
our  ancient  domain,  whose  circle  a  stone's  throw 
would  reach,  includes  perhaps  a  score  of  churches 
of  almost  every  various  denomination  and  name. 
By  a  much  better  title  than  any  pastor  or  clergyman 
can  now  be  called  the  bishop  of  a  state,  this  entire 
side  of  the  settlement  was  our  providential  bishop- 
ric. The  present  Senior  Minister  of  this  church 
has,  even  in  his  time,  discharged  substantially  the 


THE   WEST    CHUKCH.  181 

office  of  a  minister  at  large  to  the  neglected  and  poor 
in  this  whole  region.  We  wish  well  to  all  the  new- 
comers that  have  divided  among  them  our  diocese  ; 
and  trust,  whatever  new  light  they  may  have  obtained, 
they  will  not  be  wanting  in  the  respect  due  to  a 
decent  age,  whether  of  individual  men  or  of  good 
institutions. 

This  church,  as  one  shelter  of  those  that  came  out 
from  the  Old  World's  bondage,  has  been  exceeded,  I 
believe,  by  no  other  church,  in  its  assertion  and  main- 
tenance, from  the  first,  of  the  liberty  wheretviih  Christ 
had  made  it  free.  How  grandly,  from  the  other  side 
of  the  world  and  through  the  long  vista  of  ages,  that 
old  sentence  rings  on  our  ears !  Such  liberty  was 
indeed  no  easy  reconquest  or  slight  achievement. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  political  despotism  for  the 
private  conscience  or  the  public  assembly,  which  our 
fathers  banished  themselves  from  their  homes  to 
throw  off,  there  were  two  other  yokes,  the  ecclesi- 
astical and  the  theological,  in  which  the  necks  of 
men  were  held.  What  I  have  already  told  of  the 
preceding  spiritual  advisers  and  leaders  of  this  reli- 
gious host,  has  well  informed  you  how  little  content 
it  has  ever  been  to  bear  either.  What  I  mean  by 
the  yoke  ecclesiastical,  is  the  assumption  of  authority 
on  the  part  of  any  royal  pope,  or   aristocratic  board 

16 


182  THEOLOGICAL   POSITION    OF 

or  council,  in  the  name  of  the  church  at  large,  or  of 
any  section  of  it,  to  decree  either  the  mode  of  con- 
stituting a  particular  church,  or  the  precise  form 
and  order  of  administering  its  service.  Our  fathers 
disowned  the  right  of  any  ecclesiastical  authority, 
however  time-hallowed  or  widely  adopted,  to  deter- 
mine the  external  modes  of  worshipping  God.  Im- 
pious and  inhuman  postulate  indeed  it  is,  not  only 
to  prescribe,  but  enforce,  under  civil  pains  or  inqui- 
sitorial penalties,  the  outward  motions  of  the  body, 
and  fixed  shapes  in  the  air,  with  which  the  free 
souls  of  men  shall  adore  their  Author !  Superstitious 
and  slavish  obeisance,  at  any  absolute  earthly  bid- 
ding, to  be  shut  up  to  certain  conventional  robes  and 
gestures,  or  to  an  unalterable  style  of  furniture,  in- 
struments, and  sacred  utensils,  with  which  to  express 
things  in  their  nature  so  unconfinable  as  love,  ho- 
mage, fellowship  with  what  has  no  emblem  to  us 
but  the  boundless  blowing  of  the  invisible  wind,  — 
'even  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty  One! 

We  came  of  those  who  would  not  abide  such  a 
pretension,  —  no,  not  for  an  hour,  —  but  indignantly 
broke  the  priestly  fetters  from  their  minds.  By 
Hooper,  while  he  staid  here,  as  well  as  by  Mayhew 
and  Howard,  was  this  ecclesiastical  liberty  exercised 
and  affirmed.     Whatever  may  have  been  the  reasons 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  183 

of  the  first  minister's  unceremonious  farewell  to  his 
flock,  and  adoption  of  a  stricter  and  authoritative 
style  of  service,  —  of  his  inducements  to  which  only 
a  probable  judgment  can  now  be  made  ;  M'hatever 
charms  a  more  rigid  custom  may  have  had  for  him, 
—  and  for  such  a  nature  as  his  I  think  those  charms 
in  themselves  must  have  been  small  and  few ;  or 
whether,  as  I  incline  to  think,  it  was  the  uncom- 
fortableness  of  the  surrounding  theological  atmo- 
sphere —  as  we  know  uncomfortable  it  was  —  that 
repelled  him  on  the  one  side,  rather  than  any  -pve- 
latical  pomp  that  allured  him  on  the  other,  —  he 
was  no  doubt  well  aware  that  the  church  would  not 
go  with  him  in  any  ecclesiastical  change,  but  would 
stand,  as  it  did,  by  its  ancient  liberty. 

As  respects  the  Christian  body  itself,  it  has  always 
been  a  vital  part  of  the  Congregational  system  here 
set  up,  that  the  church  is  not  built  upon  the  mini- 
stry, but  the  ministry  upon  the  church.  The  minister 
is,  or  sliould  be,  no  lord  over  God's  heritage,  but 
only  an  ensamplc  to  the  flock.  This  minister  is 
but  one  of  the  brethren,  who,  moved  by  some  divine 
call  and  qualified  by  peculiar  studies,  discharges  the 
oflicc  of  religious  teacher,  counsellor,  and  friend, 
lie  has  here  no  more  arbitrary  authority  than  any 
other  of  the  fraternity.     He  has  no  authority  at  all 


184  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

but  what  Heaven  may  give  him  in  his  spiritual  fitness 
for  his  work.  The  church  is  not  his  property ;  nor 
is  the  pulpit,  save  for  his  Christian  prayers  or  in- 
structive speech.  The  ordinances  are  his  onlj^  in  his 
common  privilege  to  enjoy  them  for  himself,  while 
he  dispenses  them  to  others.  The  invitations  to 
share  in  these  ordinances  he  has  no  right  to  issue, 
but  only  to  extend  ^to  all  who  accept  them.  "  I 
thank  you  for  the  freedom  you  give  me,"  said 
one  lately  to  me,  upon  my  explaining  this  open 
nature  of  every  branch  of  our  worship.  "  It  is 
your  freedom :  I  do  not  give  it  you,"  was  my  reply. 
Certainly  I  thank  God,  however  it  may  have  been 
elsewhere  or  in  other  times,  or  however  anywhere 
it  may  be  now,  it  is  here,  not  the  privation,  but  the 
privilege,  of  a  minister  to  be  no  mere  functionary, 
but  a  religious  friend. 

I  know  how  many  are  ready  to  suggest  inconve- 
niences in  this  broad  ecclesiastical  liberty.  I  can 
only  say,  we  have  not  encountered  them ;  and  trust 
we  confess  more  the  Master's  mighty  and  lawful 
authority  for  not  owning  that  of  any  assuming 
fellow-disciple  or  number  of  disciples.  I  know  how 
many  will  declare  it  a  loose  and  licentious  system. 
I  must  rejoin,  we  have  experienced  no  harmful 
laxity ;  and,  further,  that  we  feel  in  it  the  more  safe. 


THE   WEST    CHURCH.  185 

because  we  read  in  our  Lord's  own  words  that  his 
yoke  is  easy,  and  his  burden  light ;  that  we  per- 
ceive not  whose  right  it  is  to  impose  any  other ;  and 
that,  because  we  find  his  service  a  blessed  and  rea- 
sonable one,  we  do  not  therefore  conclude  that  we 
are  under  no  yoke  at  all,  but  pray  God  we  may  ever 
be  free  from  all  the  galling  ones  of  human  construc- 
tion, while  we  willingly  and  joyfully  bear  that  which 
the  meek  and  lowly  One  brought  from  heaven.  Yea, 
we  adopt  in  its  full  extent  the  old  Pilgrims'  asserted 
prerogative,  which  they  made  their  sublime  duty  as 
well  as  imperative  claim,  to  be  all  kings  and  priests 
unto  God.  Our  democratic  phrase,  that  we  ai'e  all 
sovereigns  in  this  country,  may  be  uttered  in  a  spirit 
of  vanity  or  jesting  and  superficial  folly ;  but  truly 
every  soul,  in  the  last  resort,  in  its  own  conscience 
and  reason  and  inspiring  thought,  is  sovereign  only 
under  God. 

Having,  therefore,  attempted  to  give  you  some 
biographic  portraitures  of  your  deceased  ministers,  I 
should  feel  myself  wanting  in  my  duty  to  the  Society 
they  have  served,  if  I  did  not  add  this  statement  of 
the  unquestionable  theory  and  position  of  historic 
verity  which  belong  to  the  Society  and  Church  itself. 
From  this  ground,  ministry  and  people  together  have 
sprung.     They  are  rooted  together  in  one  common 

16* 


186  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

soil.  Of  the  people  themselves,  the  ministry  have 
been  but  the  outgrowth  and  representation  ;  and,  to 
vindicate  the  people  in  their  position,  the  ministry, 
as  the  voice  of  this  place,  thus  lie  under  a  special 
bond. 

Besides,  however,  the  yoke  ecclesiastical,  there  is 
a  yoke  theological,  of  humanly  devised  dogmas,  of 
concerted  articles  in  a  creed  which  men  may  be  sum- 
moned to  endure.  It  would  be  indeed  wonderful 
had  our  fathers  been  able  to  cast  off  both  these 
yokes  together  ;  and  there  are  evidences  that  the 
theological  yoke  'pressed  heavily  with  them,  as  it 
always  has  on  the  minds  of  men.  It  certainly  is 
with  no  wish  to  arrogate  any  thing  to  ourselves,  but 
with  a  judgment  amenable  to  the  simple  dictate  of 
truth,  that  I  declare  my  persuasion,  that  nowhere, 
even  from  this  yoke,  was  obtained  relief  earlier  or 
greater  than  in  the  West  Church.  Hooper,  its  first 
minister,  as  we  have  seen,  came  into  conflict  with 
his  clerical  brethren  on  account  of  his  criticizing  the 
severe  ideas,  commonly  held  forth,  of  the  divine 
wrath  and  vengeance,  and  advocating  an  idea  of  the 
attributes  of  God  more  liberal  and  generous  than  in 
many  quarters  prevails  even  at  the  present  day ;  and 
his  people  sustained  him.  If  either  party  was  want- 
ing to  the  other,  it  was  not  the  people  that  failed 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  187 

Hooper,  but  Hooper  that  afterwards  fell  away  from 
them ;  but  he  did  not,  so  far  as  we  know,  fall  away 
from  them  on  grounds  of  theological  difference  with 
the  members  of  his  own  Society.  The  kindly,  and  I 
think  just,  construction  of  the  reasons  of  his  depart- 
ure, would  refer  them,  not  to  any  Avilful  disloyalty 
to  his  friends,  but  to  Avhat  probably  became  an 
annoying  and  false  theological  relationship  with  the 
whole  Congregational,  which  was  then  the  ruling, 
body. 

I  have  confessed  to  you  already  the  but  slight 
means  in  my  possession  for  making  out  a  perfect 
likeness  of  our  first  minister.  My  delineation  may 
accordingly  be  considered,  to  some  extent,  conjec- 
tural. As,  from  scattered  portions  of  an  animal 
structure,  the  physiologist  undertakes  to  give  the 
kind,  and  restore  the  complete  size  and  shape,  of 
the  creature  that  lived  in  the  history  of  the  world 
long  ago,  so  from  but  a  few  memorials  we  have 
sometimes  to  reconstruct  the  features  and  magnitude 
of  a  human  soul.  Of  the  accuracy  of  my  general 
conception  of  Hooper,  and  of  the  fairness  of  my 
interpretation  of  his  conduct,  I  have  no  serious 
doubt.  Without  some  particular  cause,  such  as  I 
have  suggested,  impelling  him,  it  would  seem  the 
more    difficult    to    account    for    his    unceremonious 


188  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

departure  from  the  people  of  his  charge,  as  he  seems 
to  have  had  among  them,  beyond  even  his  succes- 
sors, an  extraordinary  popularity  as  a  preacher,  and 
to  have  been  much  cherished  as  a  man  among  those 
for  whom  he  himself  cared  as  a  pastor.  Moreover,- 
the  tradition  would  inform  us  of  a  sorrow  at  his 
going,  which,  had  his  separation  been  a  wholly  un- 
justifiable desertion,  would  scarcely  have  been  felt. 
I  therefore  leave  the  general  explanation,  which  I 
have  already  given,  of  his  act,  with  expressing  the 
hope  that  he  meant  to  step  from  the  ranks  of  the 
clergy,  rather  than  from  the  heart  of  his  flock ;  and, 
though  he  dealt  not  openly  with  the  Society,  that  he 
may  have  taken  counsel  with  some  of  his  friends 
here  before  concluding  to  forsake  his  charge  ;  that 
at  least  his  own  conscience  was  satisfied  with  the 
decision  he  made,  even  if  few  others  were  privy  to 
it ;  and  that,  if  we  knew  more  of  the  circumstances, 
so  singular  and  sudden  a  procedure  on  his  part  would 
seem  to  us  more  satisfactory  and  clear. 

But  thus  much  must  be  said,  in  regard  to  Hooper, 
that  the  contest  which  he  began  with  false  or  super- 
stitious doctrines  in  the  Congregational  body  he 
did  not  continue.  The  brave  soldier,  fighting,  like 
Paul,  the  good  fight  of  faith,  for  some  reason  did 
not  choose  to  remain  and  fight  it  out.     Yet,  so  far 


THE    AVEST    CHURCH.  '  189 

as  the  church  or  the  ministry  of  the  church  was 
conceriiecl,  this  did  not  much  matter,  as  a  truly  un- 
daunted and  never-yielding  combatant  was  about  to 
appear  in  the  field,  and  plant  himself  in  the  free 
pulpit  of  the  West  Church,  in  the  person  of  Jona- 
than May  hew. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  boldness  of  Mayhew  and 
Howard  in  exploding  the  prevalent  Calvinism  of 
their  day.  But  they  must  certainly  share  the  credit 
of  their  independence  with  the  Society,  which,  with- 
out sign  of  faltering,  still  adhered  to  them,  whose 
own  forward  opinions  they  may  have  to  a  great 
degree  expressed,  and  without  whose  defence  they 
would  have  had  no  point  from  which  to  act  on  the 
community,  but  would  have  been  as  generals  with- 
out an  army.  The  independence  and  liberality 
which  they  showed,  I  must  claim  as  traits  of  the 
worshipping  band  to  which  in  holy  things  they 
ministered,  and  which,  instead  of  dismissing  or 
suffering  any  excommunication  from  abroad  to  touch 
them  in  their  place,  guarded  and  cherished  them  for 
what  they  indeed  were,  —  the  apple  of  its  eye,  the 
very  organ  of  its  sight,  and  inlet  of  all  satisfiiction 
to  its  soul.  It  is  a  great  deal,  even  for  a  society,  in 
times  of  general  distrust  and  hostility,  to  defend  its 
minister.     It  is  like  what  soldiers  sometimes  do, — 


190  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

at  peril  of  their  own  lives,  rescuing  an  endangered 
officer  in  the  hottest  of  the  fray. 

I  must  therefore  assert,  that  the  position  and 
entire  historic  tendency  of  this  church  have  been 
towards  no  inculcation  of  any  recognized  dogmatic 
creed  outside  the  Bible  as  essential  to  salvation,  and 
no  injunction  of  forced  oaths,  by  which  one  is  made 
to  swear  to  the  commentaries  and  confessions  of 
other  minds  before  reaching  the  table  of  the  Lord 
on  earth,  or  the  kingdom  of  God  in  heaven. 

To  one  man,  indeed,  of  transcendent  prowess,  the 
church  is  for  all  time  deeply  in  debt.  As  we  read 
of  some  mighty  warrior,  who,  in  the  boundless  ra- 
ging and  pale  dismay  of  the  battle,  with  his  resistless 
arm  makes  a  clear  space  around  himself  and  his 
followers  for  freedom  of  motion,  so  Mayhew  particu- 
larly opened  the  ground  on  which  we  stand.  To 
use  a  peaceful  illustration,  this  was  one  of  the  first 
spots  cleared  and  cultivated  in  the  great  Western 
territory  of  religious  thought,  while  the  forests  of 
ancient  superstition  hung  darkly  over  the  land,  and 
the  thorny  thickets  of  scholastic  distinctions  tangled 
the  traveller's  feet,  and  the  continent  at  large  must 
wait  yet  many  long  years  for  the  bringing  forth  of 
the  fruits  of  a  rational  faith. 

I  need  not   say  hoAv  this  standard,  both  of  libe- 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  191 

rallty  and  independence,  has  been  received  and 
borne  up  by  the  honored  pastor  who,  as  in  our  late 
jubilee  it  has  been  noted,  succeeded  to  Howard  now 
more  than  half  a  century  ago.  The  church  has  not 
been  moved  from  its  old  foundation  in  any  direction 
of  denominational  strife,  because  there  has  been  no 
occasion  for  it  to  move.  Like  the  ark  of  the  Lord, 
which,  saved  from  the  enemy,  holy  hands  bore  up 
of  old,  it  has  only  been  carried  steadily  and  unhurt 
for  ever  forward.  The  doors  into  it  were  made 
large  at  the  first ;  nor  have  they  since,  by  the  hands 
of  any  theological  carpenter,  been  made  smaller. 
We  have  not,  because  of  the  sects  that  have  followed 
upon  or  fought  with  each  other  upon  speculative 
doctrines  and  points  of  doubtful  disputation,  required 
any  alteration  in  the  architecture  of  our  principles, 
or  in  the  simple  and  decent  order  of  our  modes, 
which  are  held  perfectly  at  our  own  varying  dis- 
cretion. There  has,  of  course,  been  change,  and, 
we  may  trust,  improvement,  in  the  ways  of  think- 
ing upon  many  subjects  even  here,  else  Time, 
God's  great  instructor  to  man,  would  have  taught 
us  no  lessons  ;  but  the  fundamentals  of  faith  and 
practice  were  anciently  laid  so  broad,  that  no  neces- 
sity has  ever  arisen  of  their  being,  in  their  great 
proportions,  disturbed,  or  anywhere  taken  up.     The 


192  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

church,  stands  where  the  okl  church  did:  its  prin- 
ciples are  the  same.  We  have  received,  and  do 
receive,  to  our  communion,  persons  of  various  opi- 
nions respecting  the  articles  about  which  an  ever- 
lasting war  has  sundered  the  church,  yet  has  not 
convinced  us  that  Christ  himself  need  by  them  be 
divided,  but  that  he  is  divided  only  by  the  pride, 
the  party-spirit,  and  every  unworthy  passion,  of  his 
nominal  followers.  We  are  consistent  in  this  catho- 
lic ground,  because  we  do  not  look  to  be  saved  by  our 
understanding  at  all,  and  cannot  even  conceive  of 
such  salvation  by  any  theoretical  construction  of 
terms  in  the  sharp  and  busy  brain,  much  as  the 
metaphysical  brain  has  tried  to  substitute  itself  as  a 
saviour  for  Christ ;  but  by  the  Spirit  and  the  Son  of 
God  in  our  hearts.  The  Scriptures,  it  has  well  been 
said,  tell  us  little  of  theology  or  of  religion,  but 
much  of  God  and  Christ. 

Accordingly,  we  assume  no  sectarian  name.  This 
church  has  never,  by  any  act  of  itself  or  of  its 
pastors,  taken  sides  with  any  one  of  the  divisions 
into  which  the  Congregational  body  in  New  Eng- 
land has  been  unhappily  rent.  Like  some  unallotted 
piece  of  Christ's  vesture,  that  may  have  from  the 
soldiers'  hands  dropped  unnoticed  to  the  ground, 
and  so  was  not  fought  for,  it  has  remained  unappro- 


THE   WEST    CHURCH.  193 

priated  by  any  one  of  the  quarrelling  parties.  The 
clergy  of  all  denominations,  who  would  listen  to 
its  invitation,  have  been  welcomed  into  its  pulpit ; 
though  thus  far,  I  must  distinctly  in  all  justice  say, 
to  the  Unitarian  preachers  alone  must  be  awai'ded 
the  credit  of  a  general  willingness,  by  exchanges, 
to  hold  fellowship  with  those,  who,  as  a  corporate 
body,  have  declined  to  unite  themselves  with  any 
theological  organization,  or  commit  themselves  to  the 
lead  of  any  modern  Paul  or  Cephas  or  Apollos, 
whom  they  might  think  guides  not  so  good  even  as 
the  ancient  ones.  By  those  actually  committed,  they 
have  sometimes  been  sneered  at  for  this  independent 
stand ;  as  though  some  arrogance  or  policy  were 
suspected  in  a  position  occupied  with  Christian  hu- 
mility and  unquestionable  courage,  perhaps  before  its 
critic's  or  censor's  ecclesiastical  parents  were  born. 

Probably  without  any  design  to  wrong  it,  the 
church  has  been  called  by  a  particular  name,  on 
account  of  the  undoubted  sentiment  of  a  majority  of 
its  members  ;  yet  a  name  which  the  church  or  its 
ministry  has  never  adopted,  by  however  many  of 
those  members  it  may  be  cheerfully  borne.  There 
being,  to  decide  the  matter  of  a  mere  name,  no 
clerical  or  lay  authority  beyond  the  simple  declara- 
tion of  the  facts,  every  one,  in  or  out  of  the  church, 

17 


194  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

who  undertakes  to  speak  of  or  denominate  it,  must 
be  thrown,  of  course,  upon  his  honest  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility to  the  truth.  For  my  own  part,  I  aver 
my  humble  understanding  of  that  unsectarian  cha- 
racter in  the  church,  which  but  corresponds  to  my 
unborrowed  conviction  and  independent  attitude  be- 
fore I  had  with  it  any  relation ;  and  you  are  well 
aware,  from  his  many  and  earnest  affirmations,  how 
uniformly  the  venerated  Senior  Pastor  has  stood  in 
the  same  view.  We  do  not  come  together  here  on  the 
ground  of  any  recognized  denominational  theology. 
Let  me  add,  that,  allowing  every  man's  right  to  give 
his  own  thought  of  us  according  to  his  own  judg- 
ment, I  am  neither  able  nor  disposed,  after  full 
notice  and  warning  always  in  private  and  public 
respecting  this  our  untrammelled  posture,  to  correct 
every  mistake  that  may  be  made  in  calling  us  names, 
as  I  have  no  anxiety  to  repel  misnomers  applied  to 
myself.  It  would  be  an  unreasonable  demand  that 
a  man  should  spend  his  time  in  rectifying,  or  em- 
ploy his  thoughts  in  lamenting,  erroneous  statements 
and  groundless  rumors  on  such  a  subject ;  especial- 
ly when  the  slightest  reflection  may  teach  us  that 
the  important  point  is,  not  by  what  names  we  are 
called,  but  what  in  reality  we  are.  We  shall  not 
stand  by  the  appellations  we  give  ourselves,  nor  be 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  195 

blown  over  by  the  breath  of  appellations  -which 
others  may  give  us.  As  individuals  and  as  a  society, 
we  shall  exert  our  influence,  not  according  to  the 
designations  men  apply,  but  according  to  our  actual 
characters.  Let  us  look  to  them;  let  us  pray  God 
for  their  reform,  through  his  regenerating  power  ; 
let  us  feel  a  twofold  concern  for  the  purity  and 
loving  devotion  of  our  souls  ;  because  in  our  dispo- 
sitions is  not  only  involved  our  individual  fate,  but 
wrapped  up  also  the  honor  of  an  association  with  one 
another,  that  should  be  unspeakably  dear. 

I  am  very  sensible  how  many,  upon  such  a  theo- 
logical and  ecclesiastical  position  as  I  have  now 
explained,  will  bring  a  charge  rung  through  the 
harsh  gamut  of  the  catch-words,  —  that  bigotry  ever 
delights  itself  to  sing,  —  of  looseness,  uncertainty, 
compromise  ;  sitting  upon  the  fence  between  opposite 
parties,  or  halting  long  between  two  opinions.  I 
can  only,  for  answer,  appeal  first  to  the  listeners  in 
this  assembly,  whether  there  is  any  want  of  distinct- 
ness and  candor  in  the  sentiments  expressed  in  their 
hearing  or  cherished  in  their  minds.  I  reply,  next, 
that,  if  the  church  be  true  and  firm  at  its  own  post, 
we  have  no  regret  to  express  or  feel  at  its  situation, 
however  it  may  be  caricatured  as  a  solitary  wanderer 
between  orderly  rows  of  other  churches,  instead  of 


196  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

being  assorted  or  identified  with  any  one  class.  "We 
are  sensible  of  no  disgust  at  its  being  considered 
even  a  bridge  of  passage  from  one  ground  to  ano- 
ther, or  like  a  stepping-stone  in  the  torrent,  enabling 
those  disposed  on  either  hand  to  tread  and  pass 
safely  over  ;  though  we  do  not  regard  it  as  between 
sects,  but  aside  from  or  above  them  all.  "We  are 
no  believers  in  merely  rigid  and  unbroken  lines  of 
controversy,  like  the  adverse  fronts  of  hostile  armies, 
or  the  fiery  faces  that  flash  from  besiegers  to  be- 
sieged. On  the  contrary,  let  us  rejoice  in  a  church 
useful,  not  in  being  neutral,  or  belonging  to  a  third 
party  or  a  no-party  party,  but  by  being  superior 
to  all  parties  whatsoever ;  like  a  strong  and  pros- 
perous nation,  that  looks  calmly  on,  and  presents  to 
the  angry  belligerents  of  a  whole  hemisphere  an 
example  of  what  can  be  done  by  peaceful  industry. 
If  anybody  will  say.  You  must,  in  religion,  take 
sides  one  way  or  another  with  the  allied  hosts,  or 
the  single  power  by  which  they  are  resisted,  a  politi- 
cal case  is  certainly  not  far  off  to  show  how  needless, 
and  perhaps  injurious,  might  be  such  a  partisan  reli- 
gious movement.  As  to  the  perilous  looseness  of  such 
a  position,  I  add,  it  is  indeed  loose,  if  there  are  no 
celestial  bonds  to  hold  that  from  which  earthly  cords 
are  thus  sundered  or  unwound. 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  197 

But  if  thei'e  be  invisible  attractions  from  powers 
of  the  world  to  come,  in  which  our  souls  are  well 
fastened,  we  may  well  say  to  the  terrestrial  chains 
men  would  put  on  us,  "  Off,  you  Icndings  ! " 
Those  who  once  thought  the  earth  itself  had  a 
material  basis,  or  that  the  crystal  cope  rested  upon 
a  boundless  plain,  might  have  trembled  with  terror 
at  a  sudden  revelation  to  them  of  the  round  world 
swinging  loose,  and  apparently  unsupported,  in  the 
unpillared,  measureless  firmament.  Yet  further 
knowledge  would  persuade  them  that  the  gravita- 
tion of  the  boundless  heavens  is  a  support  for  this 
planetary  dwelling,  stronger  and  more  secure  than 
any  foundations  below  or  columns  above.  So  we 
can  dispense  with  deriving  from  earthly  standards 
the  tendencies  of  our  belief,  and  with  ordering,  at 
any  human  word  of  command,  the  motions  of  our 
reason  and  conscience  which  we  keep  spiritually 
connected  with  the  inspiring  Mind  that  made  us, 
and  humbly  subject  to  the  everlasting  law  of  God. 

In  thus  interpreting  the  stand  we  take,  it  is  not 
my  design  to  denounce  religious  denominations,  nor 
even  to  regret  their  existence.  I  believe  they  have  a 
truly  providential  purpose,  and,  in  the  human  mind, 
an  unquestionable  necessity.  Nay,  but  for  the  suc- 
cessive attempts,  which  they  have  embodied,  to  define 

17» 


198  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

the  religion  they  have  all  professed;  but  for  the 
interest  in  the  gospel  which  their  very  controversies 
have  awakened,  kept  alive,  and  perpetuated,  —  I  be- 
lieve that,  through  the  ignorance  and  unspirituality 
of  mankind,  the  religion  would  have  long  ago  been 
in  its  grave,  probably  not  surviving  the  first  century 
of  its  birth.  But,  however  necessary  and  useful  may 
have  been  the  denominations,  it  is  not  necessary  that 
every  man,  every  minister,  or  every  church,  should 
belong  to  one  or  another  of  them.  Denominations 
have  their  place,  but  must  not  claim  and  monopo- 
lize the  whole  world.  The  man,  the  minister,  the 
church,  may  have  a  conviction  of  all  the  great  reali- 
ties of  religion,  without  partisanship  ;  as  the  states- 
man may  —  and  the  great  statesman  always  will  — 
pursue  the  welfare  of  his  country,  and  not  identify 
himself  with  any  one  of  its  political  factions.  It  is  far 
more  important  for  us  to  be  practical  Christians  than 
to  be  profound  theologians. 

But  no  reflecting  man,  none  but  the  most  super- 
ficial thinker,  can  feel  any  inclination  to  despise 
theology.  It  would  be  to  despise  the  noblest  of  all 
the  sciences,  and  to  cast  a  slight  upon  knowledge 
itself,  in  disesteeming  the  most  sovereign  and  endur- 
ing sort  of  knowledge ;  it  would  be  to  forget,  that, 
in  the  first  and  great  commandment,  God  requires 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  199 

US  to  love  him  with  all  our  mind,  as  well  as  all  our 
soul.  We  must  have  some  understanding  of  reli- 
gion. It  must  not  be  all  mystery  or  all  feeling. 
Without  understanding,  the  feeling  of  religion  dies 
away  into  a  formal  repetition,  a  lifeless  phrase  on 
the  tongue,  or  a  solemn  but  tedious  reiteration  from 
the  memory,  which,  however  it  may  satisfy  the  weak 
and  simple-minded,  disgusts  active  and  thoughtful 
spirits.  Theology  is  religion  in  the  head  ;  and  thus 
it  has  its  rightful  place,  because  religion  should  be 
in  the  head.  But  it  is  of  still  more  consequence  it 
should  be  in  the  heart,  where  it  is  not  theology,  but 
love ;  in  the  conscience,  where  it  is  not  theology, 
but  duty ;  and  in  the  life,  where  it  is  not  theology, 
but  all  excellence,  beautiful  goodness,  and  integrity. 
Be  it  not,  however,  forgotten,  that  the  head  and  heart 
and  life  of  a  man  are  all  connected  together  in  one 
vital  system,  to  be  alike  cared  for,  as  we  would  for 
the  great  essential  and  mutually  related  organs  of  the 
body. 

I  therefore  contend  not  against  those  who,  as  in- 
dividuals or  as  societies,  feel  called  upon  to  devote 
themselves  to  securing  this  adjustment :  I  only  ex- 
plain our  own  position.  And  I  cannot  omit  subjoining, 
to  confirm  our  independent  and  catholic  attitude  as  a 
church,  that  the  great  ideas  of  religion,  which  make 


200  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

the  grand  and  comprehensive  theology  of  the  church 
universal,  are  all  above  the  petty  dogmas  of  parti- 
cular sects  ;  and  that  in  them  contending  sects 
might,  as  we  may  hope  they  one  day  with  a  larger 
vision  will,  be  reconciled,  and  the  warmest  disputants 
brought  together.  Recognizing  here  no  foes ;  sel- 
dom in  our  preaching  or  hearing  having  at  all  in 
mind  the  dissensions  that  rage  outside  our  harbor  of 
peace;  deriving  our  themes  —  you  will  bear  me 
witness,  my  friends  —  from  sources  above  the  angry 
surge  ;  and  clinging  to  the  conception  of  the  church, 
in  all  climes,  under  all  names,  and  through  all  ages, 
as  one,  —  we  never,  as  it  is  styled,  dismiss  a  member 
from  our  company,  though  by  removal  he  may  be 
withdrawn  from  our  sight,  or  by  death  carried  into 
another  world ;  and  we  ask  of  no  one  a  dismission 
from  any  other  company  of  believers,  in  order  to 
his  finding  admission  and  cordial  entertainment  in 
ours. 

I  wish,  as  nearly  as  possible,  to  state  what  our 
position  is,  rather  than  any  private  notion  of  my  own 
what  it  should  be.  If  it  be  a  position  in  any  respect 
indefinite,  we  may  trust  it  is  in  all  respects  charitable. 
In  dealing  with  truths  that  are  infinite,  and  a  spirit 
that  is  vast  and  incomprehensible,  it  may  be  doubted 
if  a  very  severe  definiteness,  consistently  with  the 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  201 

love  of  God  and  man,  is  possible  as  a  true  bond, 
even  were  it  desirable.  Moreover,  it  often  does  not 
exist  -where  it  is  most  pretended.  When  men  are 
named  to  us  under  denominational  designations,  — 
Orthodox  or  Liberal,  Churchmen  or  Dissenters, — 
we  feel  that  they  are  described  but  rudely,  if  at  all ; 
that  opposite  characters  are  embraced  in  the  same  no- 
menclature ;  and  that  we  have  no  accurate  perceptions, 
after  all,  till  we  know  the  men  themselves.  Even 
the  terms  Unitarian  and  Trinitarian  are  inexpres- 
sive till  we  are  apprised  how  far  they  refer  to  two 
different  tenets  in  creeds,  or  two  opposite  parties  of 
men,  with  their  whole  conflicting  systems  of  beliefs 
and  measures. 

We  would  fain  therefore,  as  a  Society,  if  we  might, 
belong  to  that  already  great  and  ever-growing  host 
of  those  who  cannot  easily  be  described  under  any 
terms  of  the  logic  of  ancient  or  modern  schools  ; 
who  refuse  classification,  not  because  they  are  no- 
thinif,  or  disposed  to  lurk  prudently  in  the  vague 
twilight  of  cowardly  indecision,  but  because  at  least 
they  aspire  to  be  so  much,  as  lovers  of  God  and 
man  ;  striving  to  mend  their  own  life  and  thought, 
while  doing  something  to  reform  the  world ;  glory- 
'ng  to  commune  with  invisible  perfection,  that  ever 
lures  them   to   a  higher  point  for  a  wider  prospect ; 


202  THEOLOGICAL    POSITION    OF 

seeking  and  saving  that  whicli  was  lost.  This  is  a 
worthy  position,  that  will  show  itself  more  and  more 
alike  unambiguous  and  unavoidable.  As  no  phi- 
losophy ever  held  in  its  grasp  the  outward  universe, 
however  it  might  trace  a  little  way  some  of  its  cir- 
cles and  pierce  a  little  way  into  some  of  its  depths, 
so  the  fellowship  of  God's  children  and  Christ's 
disciples  cannot  submit  to  be  embraced  by  any 
exclusive  terminology.  Of  such  terminology  they 
are  always  somewhat  ashamed ;  in  fact,  they  do  not 
respect  the  sharp  landmarks  set  up,  but  must  pass 
freely  through  the  whole  territory.  They  are, 
according  to  Christ's  benediction,  inheritors  of  the 
earth  and  occupants  of  the  world,  while  aspirants 
after  another  world  of  immortality.  Let  us  not, 
indeed,  be  so  vain  as  to  say  we  are  of  this  noble 
brotherhood.  But  we  will  say  we  are  of  no  other. 
We  desire  to  be  of  this.  At  least,  let  us  stand  fast 
in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free, 
and  not  be  entangled  again  with  the  yoke  of 
bondage. 

May  it  please  the  church,  as  it  is  now  embodied, 
to  accept  the  portraiture  I  have  tried  to  make  faith- 
fully according  to  its  actual  qualities  and  its  ideal 
aim !  There  were,  indeed,  only  presumption  in  the 
attempt  of  any  individual  to  sketch  the  character  of 


THE    WEST    CHURCH.  203 

a  great  united  body,  but  that  it  must  be  done  by  an 
individual,  or  not  at  all.  May  the  present  church 
not  disown  the  justness  of  the  likeness  ;  may  the 
church  translated,  and  now  in  glory,  feel  itself  not 
unfairly  dealt  with  ;  and  may  the  future  church,  yet  to 
come  on  earth,  accept  these  lines  as  some  rude  index 
to  signify  the  direction  in  which  we  in  our  day  and 
generation  are  travelling  !  Faint  and  poor,  however, 
as  may  be  the  portraiture,  let  a  benediction  from  the 
earnest  prayers  and  sacred  wishes  of  many  years, 
from  deep  sympathy  with  the  sorrows  and  joys  of 
multitudes  made  dear,  from  the  thought  of  many 
graves,  and  a  spiritual  beholding  of  many  long-since 
or  lately  occupied  seats  in  heaven,  here  be  spoken 
to  the  West  Church  ! 


205 


APPENDIX  TO  THE   DISCOURSES. 


In  the  Discourse  upon  Jonathan  Mayhew,  whose  name  is 
one  of  the  glories  alike  of  this  country  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can Church,  as  well  as  of  the  particular  Society  to  which 
he  ministered,  I  have  spoken  of  him  as  the  first  openly 
to  proclaim  on  these  shores  the  sublime  doctrine  of  the 
strict  and  undivided  unity  of  God.  The  very  fact  of  the 
independence  of  all  theological  parties,  which  this  parish 
has  maintained,  but  renders  it  the  more  my  duty  to  affirm, 
that  no  other  doctrine  is  understood  ever  to  have  prevailed 
among  the  worshippers,  or  been  preached  or  implied  by 
any  of  the  pastors,  since  Mayhew's  day.  Dr.  Howard 
and  Dr.  Lowell  —  of  the  latter  of  whom,  as  well  as  the 
former,  as  he  is  nowise  cognizant  beforehand  of  the 
friendly  notices  of  him  in  this  volume,  I  may  say,  that  he 
has  been  exceeded  by  no  one  in  the  comprehensiveness  of 
his  Christian  liberality  —  have,  in  regard  to  this  grand 
tenet  of  theology,  occupied,  with  IMayhew  and  the  religious 
body  to  whicli  they  have  all  ministered,  the  same  ground. 
They  have,  indeed,  uniformly  put  the  spirit  and  practical 
life  of  Christianity,  in  importance,  before  all  points  of 
doctrine  whatsoever;    have  avoided,  as  far  as  possible, 

18 


206  APPENDIX    TO    THE    DISCOURSES. 

controversial  discussions  of  every  kind ;  have  sought  for 
points  of  union,  and  not  division,  with  other  behevers  ;  and 
never  been  disposed  to  make  any  speculative  dogma  an 
indispensable  condition  of  religious  fellowship.  Trinita- 
rians are  as  welcome  as  Unitarians  to  our  assembly  and 
our  communion.  The  teachers  of  the  congregation,  from 
the  pulpit  and  through  the  press,  have  spoken,  each  for 
himself,  with  all  plainness  and  kindness,  the  truth  that  lay 
near  their  hearts.  But,  in  a  volume  intended  to  do  justice 
to  people  as  well  as  clergy,  I  could  not  answer  for  omit- 
ting distinctly  to  say,  that  the  great  majoi*ity,  if  not  all,  of 
the  hearers,  while  wholly  unsectarian  in  their  inclination, 
are  quite  agreed,  with  those  chosen  for  their  servants  in 
holy  things,  in  regard  to  this  faith  in  the  simple  unity  of 
God.  I  am  glad  to  record  in  this,  as  in  respect  to  the 
primal  obligation  of  Christian  charity,  their  loyal  adher- 
ence to  the  stand  taken  by  the  lofty  mind  and  courageous 
soul  of  him  who  is  the  foremost  champion  in  this  land  of 
all  united  in  the  like  judgment  of  sacred  things;  and  the 
particularity  of  my  statement  may  be  attributed,  among 
other  and  greater  motives,  to  an  earnest  desire  to  claim 
and  vindicate  the  historic  honor  of  both  our  church, 
and  of  our  noble  predecessor  and  spiritual  adviser  in  this 
place.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  ministers  and  the 
church  have  always  equally  sympathized  in  the  view  of 
that  unspeakable  oneness  of  the  Son  with  the  Father, 
into  which  Christ,  not  monopolizing  or  appropriating  it 
to  himself,  would,  by  the  grace  of  his  prayer,  humility, 
and  love,  baptize  and  bring  all  his  disciples.  But  it  is 
needless  to  say  how  consistent  this  is  with  the  great,  fun- 
damental, never-abrogated  article  of  Jewish  and  Christian 
faith. 

It  is  proper  to  remark,  that,  while  the  writer  of  this 


APPENDIX    TO    THE    DISCOURSES.  207 

note  is  persuadeil  of  the  accordance  in  these  sentiments  of 
those  with  whom  he  is  connected,  he  here  publishes  them 
on  his  own  responsibility,  without  other  authority  or  right 
than  may  be  supposed  to  be  derived  from  a  common 
consciousness  and  understanding  with  his  parishioners 
and  friends.  Those  who  speak  and  meditate  and  pray 
together  for  a  long  course  of  years,  may  all  become  sub- 
stantially fair  reporters  of  the  present  and  chroniclers  of 
the  past  in  their  condition ;  so  that  we  may  each  Aie 
bear  witness  of  what  is  and  has  been,  and  declare  our 
confidence  that  the  pulpit,  which  was  the  first  on  this  side 
the  water  to  proclaim  the  pure  unity  of  God,  will  be 
the  last  to  renounce  it ;  nay,  that  it  will  here  never  be 
renounced. 

That  this  exposition  may  be  without  any  possible  dis- 
guise, lacking  no  element  of  frankness  or  thoroughness, 
let  it  be  added,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Unity  among 
us  is  held  in  the  exact  sense  of  one  unequalled,  incom- 
municable, and  infinite  Personality.  However  dillicult  to 
the  human  mind  it  may  be  to  unite  in  a  single  thought 
the  two  ideas  of  immensity  and  personality,  yet,  while 
this  is  the  uniform  representation  of  Scripture,  the  difli- 
culty  is  surely  but  increased  by  multiplying  the  persons: 
for,  let  it  be  considered,  the  addition  of  the  element  of 
number  to  the  persons  as  more  than  one,  unavoidably 
makes  personality  finite,  which  there  is  no  philosophical 
necessity  that  unipcrsonalily  should  be;  as  that  j)rinciple 
of  will,  activity,  power,  which  forn\s  in  our  notion  the 
essence  of  person,  agrees  as  well  with  an  absolute  as  with 
a  dependent  being:  it  may  be  a  boundless  will,  activity, 
power,  not  included  in  space,  but  comprehending  space 
and  the  universe.  But  severalty  of  persons  in  the  God- 
head robs  it  of  its  unbounded,  and  so  truly  adorable,  being 


208  APPENDIX    TO    THE    DISCOURSES. 

and  glory.  Further :  the  sentiments  of  worship  and  love 
which  we  owe  to  our  Maker  demand  for  ever  one  only- 
object  on  whom,  in  their  own  simplicity  and  for  their  free 
and  joyful  exercise,  they  may  be  supremely  fixed.  He, 
the  first  and  last  attribute  of  whose  nature  is  its  immea- 
surableness  by  our  minds,  certainly  comes  nearer  to  being 
distinctly  apprehended  as  an  Eternal  Unity  than  under  any 
hard  mode  or  perpetual  variation  of  a  confusing  Trinity. 
T^  one  observing  widely  the  religious  history  of  mankind, 
the  suspicion  indeed  must  be  irresistibly  suggested,  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  tri personality  of  the  Godhead  is  but 
the  last  relic  of  the  Polytheism  which  so  long  sundered 
the  great  Divinity  into  more  persons  than  we  can  count. 
Nor  let  it  be  forgotten,  as  a  reason  for  the  greatest  ex- 
plicitness,  that,  while  the  Polytheism  that  so  long  clung  to 
the  unspiritualized  mind  of  our  race  has  for  us  mostly 
gone  by,  now,  in  place  of  the  multiform  idolatry  of  the 
Old  "World,  modern  times  have  witnessed  the  opening  of 
a  more  fatal  superstition  in  the  boundless  gulf  of  Pan- 
theism, into  which  the  Trinitarianism,  so  offensive  to 
philosophic  minds,  like  a  rushing,  ofFshooting  torrent,  ter- 
ribly plays,  and  from  which  nothing  but  a  simple  faith 
in  the  unity  of  God  can  hold  us  back.  The  reader  of 
history  will  remember,  that,  when  several  emperors  at  once 
swayed  the  Roman  realm,  the  sovereignty  was  degraded 
by  being  shared.  So  the  supremacy  of  the  creation  loses 
dignity  when  conceived  as  reposed  in  distinct  hands.  In 
the  poetry  of  our  praise,  we  indeed  personify  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  without  meaning  that  it  is  a  real  person,  or 
other  than  an  influence,  direct  from  God  or  breathing 
through  his  Son,  as  we  personify  any  grace  from  heaven 
or  holy  virtue;  and  we  address  Jesus,  pouring  out  our 
affection  to  him,  or  giving  to  him  in  our  doxologies  glory 


APPENDIX    TO    THE    DISCOURSES.  209 

in  liis  church,  without  ever  designing  to  pay  to  him  —  what 
he  would  utterly  refuse  from  us  —  our  supreme  worship. 
Indeed,  it  confirms  this  whole  reasoning  upon  the  divine 
personality,  that,  while  the  "person"  of  the  Father  is 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  Christ  is  declared  to  be 
the  "  image "  of  that  "  person,"  but  nowhere  called  an- 
other equal  person  in  the  Godhead. 

Loath  as  I  am  to  extend  further  a  note  already  far  tran- 
scending its  anticipated  limits,  the  last  words  here  must 
signify  our  wish  to  live  in  peace  and  communion  with  all 
denominations.  Verily  we  are  convinced  peace  on  earth 
is  to  come.  Even  in  the  multiplication  of  parties,  we 
would  see,  not  more  separation,  but  rather  an  approach 
by  just  gradations  to  the  healthy  union  of  all  sincere  be- 
lievers. The  musical  symphony  arises  from  a  thousand 
combinations  of  not  only  near,  but  also  distant,  notes  ;  the 
garb  of  humanity  is  no  soldier's  uniform,  but  for  every 
one  a  becoming  dress ;  true  painting  is  no  mechanical 
Chinese  copying  after  a  few  unvarying  types,  but  a  ren- 
dering of  expressions  from  every  various  shade  and  color, 
as  the  countenance  of  Nature  herself  is  glorious  from  the 
infinity  of  her  traits.  So  the  day  is  even  now  at  hand 
when  the  spiritual  harmony,  beauty,  and  order  of  the 
world  will  be  seen  to  arise  from  the  utmost  intellectual 
freedom,  joined  to  the  deepest  cordiality  ;  when  the  bond  of 
conformity  shall  be  outworn,  and  charity  and  truth  kiss 
each  other.  Then  no  party  dogma  shall  at  once  cut  the 
vital  connections  of  Holy  Writ  and  the  bonds  of  believers, 
but  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  be  the  immortal  union  of  us  all. 

18» 


ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


ACCOUNT 


SUNDAY  SCHOOL  OF  THE  WEST-BOSTON  SOCIETY. 


Tins  school  —  which  has  for  mauy  years  constituted 
an  interesting  and  important  part  of  the  agency  of 
the  "West-Boston  Society  in  the  religious  culture 
of  the  young,  and  in  extending  and  strengthening 
the  bonds  of  Christian  sympathy  among  many  of  its 
members,  as  pupils  and  teachers,  who  might  not 
otherwise  have  enjoyed  opportunity  for  friendly  and 
familiar  intercourse  —  having  been  instituted  under 
the  ministry  of  the  Senior  Pastor,  and  grown  up 
under  his  fostering  care,  and  become  one  of  the 
crowns  of  his  rejoicing  in  the  retrospect  of  his  mis- 
sion to  the  people  of  his  charge,  a  brief  sketch  of  its 

•  For  information  of  many  of  the  facts  stated  in  this  brief  historical 
sketch,  and  particularly  for  those  of  early  date,  the  author  is  indebted 
to  Mr.  Thomas  Gaffield,  the  Secretary,  and  one  of  the  most  devoted  and 
successful  teachers. 


214  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

origin,  progress,  and  character  seems  a  not  inappro- 
priate addition  to  a  volume  intended  to  be  illustrative 
of  the  history  of  that  Society. 

Like  many  other  benevolent  institutions  for  the 
relief  of  suffering  and  for  the  spiritual  elevation  of 
humanity,  offering  no  rewards  of  gain  or  fame,  this 
school  had  its  origin  in  very  humble  beginnings, 
and  owes  its  establishment,  and  gradual  introduction 
into  the  hearts  of  parents  and  children,  mainly  to 
the  disinterested  and  earnest  spirit  of  a  few  ladies 
of  the  Society,  —  the  sex  "  last  at  the  cross,  and 
first  at  the  sepulchre,"  and  ever  to  be  the  first  in 
enterprises  calling  for  humility  and  self-sacrifice, 
with  no  other  reward  than  the  consciousness  of  duty 
faithfully  attempted.  Nor  may  its  brief  story  be 
without  interest,  as  illustrative  of  the  wide- spreading, 
beneficent,  and  permanent  influences  of  the  seem- 
ingly humblest  efforts  in  the  service  of  the  Master, 
and  of  the  faithfulness  of  the  assurance  that  bread 
cast  upon  the  waters  shall  be  found  after  many 
days.  For  some  time  prior  to  the  year  1811,  a 
society  of  young  ladies  had  been  formed,  under  the 
name  of  the  "  Gleaning  Circle,"  for  the  purposes  of 
mutual  entertainment  and  improvement  by  literary 
exercises,  and  of  contributing,  by  their  needles  and 
otherwise,  to   the   relief  of  the   poor,  consisting  of 


ACCOUNT   OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  215 

members  from  various  religious  societies,  but  chiefly 
from  that  under  Dr.  Lowell's  pastoral  charge,  who 
was  accustomed  occasionally  to  attend  their  meetings, 
and  to  aid  in  the  ministration  of  their  charities. 

Early  in  that  year,  the  Rev.  John  Bartlett,  after- 
wards settled  at  Marblehead,  was  chaplain  of  the 
almshouse  in  Leverett  Street ;  and  being  a  man  of 
active  and  wise  benevolence,  and  perceiving  the 
destitution  of  all  means  of  education  for  the  very 
young  children  of  the  poor  to  prepare  them  for 
entering  the  public  schools,  he  established  by  sub- 
scription two  charity-schools  —  one  at  the  North 
End,  and  one  at  the  western  part  of  the  town  —  for 
that  purpose,  and  also  for  the  instruction  of  the 
female  children  in  sewing,  there  being  then  no  pri- 
mary schools  ;  of  which  admirable  institution,  now 
so  prized,  and  so  indispensable  in  our  system  of 
public  education,  these  were  perhaps  the  germs. 

The  one  last  named,  of  course,  soon  attracted  the 
attention  and  interest  of  Dr.  Lowell,  whose  zeal 
in  the  se.  'ice  of  his  Master,  not  limited  to  the 
bounds  of  parochial  duty,  had  already  made  him 
the  minister  at  large  to  the  poor  and  afflicted  and 
erring  in  that  portion  of  the  town,  and  who  com- 
mended it  to  the  benevolence  of  the  "  Gleaning 
Circle." 


216  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

Several  of  its  members  immediately  took  the 
school  under  their  patronage ;  became  themselves, 
and  afterwards  procured  others  to  become,  contri- 
butors for  its  support ;  and  assisted  in  the  instruction 
of  the  children,  and  in  the  clothing  of  those  the 
most  destitute.  In  a  short  time,  it  fell  entirely 
into  the  hands  of  the  ladies  of  the  "West-Boston 
Society,  including  many  besides  the  members  of  the 
Circle,  and  was  wholly  maintained  and  managed  by 
them.  In  the  year  1813,  while  Miss  Lydia  Adams 
was  the  matron  of  the  school,  she,  being  on  a  visit 
in  Beverly,  saw  the  children  of  the  Society  then 
under  the  charge  of  Rev.  Dr.  Abbot,  and  now  under 
that  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thayer,  assembled  after  ser- 
vice for  religious  instruction  by  members  of  the 
Society ;  thus  constituting,  as  is  believed,  the  first 
Sunday  school  in  America.  Being  greatly  im- 
pressed with  the  utility  and  effect  of  such  a  school 
as  there  exhibited,  upon  her  return  she  communi- 
cated her  views  to  the  ladies  then  in  charge  of  her 
school,  who,  uniting  in  sentiment  with  her,  imme- 
diately made  arrangements  for  the  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  children  under  her  care,  on  Sunday,  by 
the  attendance  of  two  of  them,  in  regular  rotation, 
for  that  service. 

At  that  time,  there  were  about  fifteen  children  in 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  217 

the  school,  all  of  whom  were  girls,  and  who  at- 
tended church,  and  were  seated  together  in  the 
gallery.  The  number,  however,  was  gradually  in- 
creased by  the  accession  of  children  of  members 
of  the  Society,  who  had  become  sensible  of  its 
great  utility ;  and  the  name  was  changed,  from 
being  the  "  West-Boston  Charity  School,"  to  that 
of  the  "  West-Parish  Sewing  School." 

It  continued  to  flourish  until  the  establishment  of 
the  public  primary  schools  for  the  same  ends  en- 
tirely superseded  its  necessity,  when  it  was  given 
up.  But  so  faithfully  and  successfully  had  its  pa- 
trons and  benefactors  fulfilled  their  duties,  and  so 
popular  had  it  become  with  the  benevolent  women 
of  the  Society,  that,  at  its  dissolution,  a  fund  of 
about  seventeen  hundred  dollars  had  been  accumu- 
lated from  subscriptions  and  donations  for  its  sup- 
port, which  is  now  under  the  management  and 
dispensation  of  a  board  of  managers,  composed  of 
ladies  of  the  parish,  by  whom  it  is  administered  for 
objects  akin  to  those  for  which  it  was  originally 
designed. 

But  the  great  good  accomplished  for  the  Httle 
ones  who  attended  the  school  during  its  continuance, 
(and  who  would  now  venture  to  compute  ■  its  ex- 
tent ?)  and  the  advantages  derived  by  those  who,  in 

19 


218  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

thus  aiding  to  save  and  to  elevate  the  lowly,  were 
unconsciously  raising  themselves  nearer  to  heaven, 
and  this  permanent  charitable  fund,  are  not  the 
only  memorials  of  this  humble  institution,  nor 
those,  great  though  they  be,  which  chiefly  entitle 
its  name  and  usefulness  to  be  held  in  affectionate 
and  respectful  remembrance.  It  was  the  parent 
of  the  Sunday  school  of  the  West-Boston  Society, 
the  first  established  in  Boston,  and  whose  beneficent 
influences  in  the  religious  training  of  the  young, 
in  affording  opportunities  of  association  and  con- 
fiding intercourse  between  pastor  and  people,  in 
multiplying  and  extending  the  bonds  of  Christian 
sympathy  and  aflfection  among  those  engaged  in  its 
instruction,  and  in  the  formation  of  the  holiest 
friendships  between  teachers  and  pupils,  never  to 
cease  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  will  ever  entitle  it 
to  reverential  and  fond  regard  in  the  minds  of  a 
multitude  who  have  already  enjoyed  them,  and,  it 
may  be  hoped,  will  be  continued  so  long  as  the 
Society  shall  exist.  The  ladies  who  had  thus  under- 
taken the  religious  instruction  of  the  children  on 
Sunday  became  so  deeply  interested  in  their  work, 
and  rendered  their  ministrations  so  attractive,  that 
other  children,  not  connected  with  the  school,  were 
induced  to  partake  of  the  benefit  of  them,  until  the 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  219 

number,  at  the  time  of  Its  dissolution,  amounted 
to  about  fifty,  Avith  a  complement  of  about  eight 
teachers,  who  were  accustomed  to  assemble,  in  mild 
weather,  in  the  room  under  the  belfry,  and,  in  win- 
ter, in  the  galleries,  and  subsequently,  as  the  school 
increased,  at  the  Derne-street  Schoolhouse.  And 
thus  was  formed  the  first  of  those  institutions  in 
this  city,  which  arc  now  esteemed  an  essential  de- 
partment in  most  of  the  religious  societies  through- 
out the  United  States. 

The  Sunday  school  for  girls  having  become  thus 
firmly  established  in  tlie  hearts  of  the  teachers  and 
pupils,  and  its  happy  influences  upon  both  being 
deeply  felt,  the  ladies  having  it  in  charge,  desirous 
of  extending  the  like  blessing  to  the  boys,  exerted 
themselves  to  convince  some  of  the  gentlemen  of 
the  Society  of  its  value,  and  thus  induced  the  esta- 
blishment   of  the    boys'   school    early   in    the    year 

IftOQ 

Some  difficulties  were  at  first  encountered  in  both 
schools  in  inducing  the  wealthier  portion  of  the 
Society  to  send  their  children,  —  a  Sunday  school 
being  then  generally  associated  with  the  idea  of  a 
charity-schogl  for  elementary  teaching,  as  well  as  for 
religious  instruction ;  and  also  because  of  a  widely 
prevailing   impression,  that   such   attendance   would 


220  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

interfere  with  and  supersede  parental  teaching  at 
home.  The  example,  however,  of  a  few,  -who  had 
more  correct  knowledge  of  the  real  character  of 
the  school,  and  their  conviction,  which  gradually 
diffused  itself,  that  Sunday-school  instruction,  so 
far  from  interfering  with,  was  found  to  be  a  very 
efficient  auxiliary,  by  engaging  both  parents  and 
children  in  researches  before  unthought  of,  and  by 
exciting  a  deeper  sympathetic  interest  in  religious 
study  and  thought,  soon  overcame  these  difficulties ; 
and  both  schools,  for  the  ensuing  ten  years,  were 
gradually  gaining  upon  the  confidence  and  affections 
of  parents  and  children,  and  increasing  in  numbers, 
until  the  aggregate  of 'pupils  exceeded  an  hundred 
and  fifty,  each  school  having  a  correspondingly  large 
and  efficient  corps  of  teachers  earnestly  devoted  to 
their  interesting  charge. 

The  mutual  sympathy  naturally  existing  between 
them,  and  the  conviction  that  a  union  of  them  would 
be  attended  with  manifest  advantage  to  both,  and 
lead  to  still  more  extended  and  faithful  exertion, 
had  for  several  years  made  it  a  subject  of  conver- 
sation and  deep  interest ;  but  the  want  of  a  suitable 
room  seemed  to  be  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  any 
satisfactory  and  efficient  arrangement  for  that  pur- 
pose.    As,  however,  every  year  added  to  the  beHef 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  221 

of  its  importance,  and  strengthened  the  interest  of 
all  in  its  accomplishment,  it  was  finally  determined 
to  appeal  to  the  Society  for  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  a  schoolroom  in  the  basement  of  the 
church.  It  was  made,  and  responded  to  as  instantly 
as  made,  with  the  liberality  which  has  always  distin- 
guished the  Society  whenever  any  object  worthy  of 
its  bounty  has  been  presented  for  its  favor  ;  and  the 
use  of  the  basement  was  granted,  and  a  sum  ex- 
ceeding twelve  hundred  dollars  was  immediately 
raised  by  subscription,  for  building  and  furnishing 
a  room,  which  was  subsequently,  and  by  an  almost 
equal  subscription,  enlarged  and  improved  into  the 
spacious  and  commodious  one  now  thus  occupied. 

The  two  schools  met  there  together,  and  were 
thus  united,  in  the  mouth  of  February,  in  the  year 
1832. 

Until  the  establishment  of  the  boys'  school.  Dr. 
Lowell  had  been  accustomed  to  assemble  the  children 
for  catechetic  instruction,  —  the  girls  in  the  after- 
noon of  Sunday,  and  the  boys  in  that  of  Wednesday. 
But,  as  the  two  schools  contained  all  of  those  who 
were  wont  to  attend  those  exercises,  and  pursued  a 
somewhat  similar  mode  as  a  part  of  their  system, 
and  he  attended  and  supervised  them,  the  necessity 
of  that  anaugcmeut  ceased.  And  it  may  well  be 
19* 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

accounted  among  the  felicities  of  the  Sunday  school, 
that  it  affords  this  weekly  opportunity  for  the  pastor 
thus  to  meet  the  children  of  his  flock,  and  a  large 
portion  of  its  junior  members,  engaged  in  an  active 
course  of  religious  training,  as  means  of  strength- 
ening a  parental  interest  towards  them,  and  exciting 
a  more  immediate  filial  love  and  respect  on  their 
part  towards  him.  And  such  opportunity  has  been 
most  faithfully  improved  by  both  the  pastors  of  the 
Society,  and,  as  is  believed,  has  been  made  highly 
conducive  to  the  happiness  of  all. 

The  course  of  instruction  which  had  been  adopted 
until  the  union  of  the  schools,  was  substantially  the 
same  in  both.     Before  that  event,  each  had  a  super- 
intendent, whose  duty  it  was  to  preside,  and  arrange 
the  pupils  into  classes,  and  designate  the  instructors 
for  each,  and  provide  for  the  teaching  of  any  whose 
instructor  might  be  absent,  and  to  exercise  a  general 
supervision ;    to   conduct   the  religious   exercises   at 
the    opening   of  the   school,   by  reading    a    liturgy 
and  lesson  for  the  day  from  the  admirable  compend 
compiled   for   that   purpose   by  Dr.   Follen,  and  to 
give  a  general  lesson,  or  brief  address,  to  the  whole 
school  at  the  close,  or  to  arrange  for  the  giving  of 
one  by  some  one  of  the  instructors,  unless  one  were 
given   by  the   pastor  or  some  visitor,  as  was  not 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  223 

infrequently  the  case.  The  teachers  of  the  several 
classes  exercised  their  own  discretion  in  the  selection 
of  manuals  and  books  from  Avhich  to  instruct  the 
children ;  subject,  of  course,  to  any  ol)jection  that 
might  be  made  by  the  pastor  or  superintendent, 
though  none  is  known  ever  to  have  been  so  made. 
They  were  left  also  to  adopt  the  mode  of  instruction 
most  congenial  to  their  own  minds  and  hearts  and 
abilities,  and  the  capacities  and  peculiarities  of  their 
pupils  ;  but  the  principal  and  almost  universal  mode 
was  rather  conversational,  and  in  the  exchange  of 
thought  and  inquiry  upon  the  subject  to  which  the 
lesson  related ;  memoriter  recitations,  excepting  of 
very  short  lessons  preparatory  for  such  conversation, 
not  being  generally  in  favor. 

The  pupils  were  advised,  but  not  required,  to 
write  at  home  their  remembrance  of  the  lesson  given 
by  their  teacher,  or  of  the  general  lesson,  or  of  one 
of  the  sermons  of  the  day,  to  be  exhibited  to  their 
teachers  and  the  superintendent  on  the  following 
Sunday,  —  a  most  admirable  exercise  for  cultivating 
the  habit  of  attention  to  spoken  discourse,  for  disci- 
plining the  memory,  for  attaining  to  habits  of  accu- 
rate statement,  and  familiarizing  the  mind  and  heart 
with  religious  thought. 

In  the  first  institution  of  both  schools,  a  system 


22'i  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

of  rewards  for  good  conduct  had  been  introduced,  — 
consisting  of  monthly  certificates,  and  quarterly  pre- 
sents of  useful  books,  —  as  incentives  to  exertion  ; 
but  it  was  soon  found,  in  both,  that  the  interest 
excited  by  the  emulation  inseparable  from  any  mode 
of  effective  teaching,  —  and  which,  under  proper 
direction,  is  one  of  God's  appointed  means  of  stimu- 
lating the  youthful  mind,  and  may  be,  in  its  exhi- 
bitions, one  of  the  most  important  and  interesting 
subjects  of  training,  —  and  the  fondness  of  the  pupils 
for  their  teachers,  and  desire  to  please  them,  and 
their  interest  in  the  themes  to  which  their  attention 
was  directed,  —  rendered  all  such  artificial  aid  need- 
less ;  and  it  was  soon  abandoned. 

In  the  boys'  school,  however,  a  system  had  been 
adopted  for  securing  punctuality  by  the  use  of 
tickets,  first  introduced  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  A.  Haven, 
then  superintendent  of  the  school  in  Portsmouth,  — 
a  gentleman  eminent  alike  for  his  scholarship  and 
devotional  spirit.  There  was  one  for  each  Sunday 
in  the  quarter,  numbered  from  one  to  thirteen,  each 
having  upon  it  reference  to  a  practical  text  of  Scrip- 
ture, which  the  pupil  was  to  learn  and  repeat  to  the 
teacher  upon  its  delivery ;  and  as  one  was  surren- 
dered, and  the  next  number  taken,  whenever  the 
pupil  came  punctually,  the  number  on  that  surren- 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  225 

(lered  on  the  last  Sunday  of  the  quarter  designated 
the  number  of  times  of  punctual  attendance,  and  the 
pupil  Avould  have  learned  and  repeated  a  corre- 
sponding number  of  impressive  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture. This  was  found  a  very  effective  arrangement. 
After  the  schools  were  united,  the  same  system  was 
substantially  pursued.  A  general  superintendent  of 
both  schools  was  appointed,  with  one  for  the  girls' 
school.  At  five  minutes  after  the  hour  for  assem- 
bling, the  doors  were  closed,  and  the  devotional  ser- 
vice was  read.  The  doors  were  then  opened,  and 
those  who  had  arrived  in  season  for  prayers  delivered 
and  exchanged  their  tickets,  repeating  the  verse  re- 
ferred to  on  that  surrendered.  Each  class  M-as  then 
left  to  the  care  of  its  particular  teacher  until  the  time 
arrived  for  the  general  lesson,  about  fifteen  minutes 
being  allowed  for  it.  In  the  mean  time,  those  who 
had  prepared  written  exercises  delivered  them  to 
the  superintendent,  who  made  a  list  of  them,  and 
read  as  many  as  time  would  allow,  makiivg  occa- 
sional annotations  of  correction  and  encouragement. 
The  names  of  those  who  had  presented  them  were 
read  aloud  to  the  school ;  and  the  exercises  were 
returned  to  them  when  it  was  dismissed. 

Before   the  giving  of  the  general  lesson,  a  brief 
examination  upon  that  of  the  preceding  Sunday  was 


226  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

had,  in  which  answers  to  questions  were  usually 
volunteered,  but  sometimes  called  for.  The  be- 
witching simplicity,  manly  confidence,  modest  diffi- 
dence, and  sometimes  startling  fulness  of  spiritual 
apprehension,  with  which  these  answers  were  often 
given,  made  it  the  most  interesting  exercise  of  the 
day,  and  generally  excited  intense  interest  among 
the  children,  and  perhaps  not  less  in  the  hearts 
of  the  teachers. 

Then  followed  the  general  lesson,  by  the  pastor 
or  superintendent,  or  one  of  the  teachers,  or  some 
visitor ;  after  which,  the  services  were  closed  by 
the  singing  of  a  hymn,  in  which  all  united,  stand- 
ing. 

So  great  was  the  impulse  given  to  the  schools  by 
the  labors  of  those  engaged  in  them  prior  to  their 
union,  and  by  the  animating  influences  of  that  event, 
that  the  number  of  pupils  soon  afterwards  amounted 
to  about  one  hundred  and  eighty ;  and  it  was  not 
unusual  to  have  from  thirty  to  fifty  written  exer- 
cises given  in,  many  of  them  containing  an  almost 
entire  record  of  the  whole  lesson. 

Many  of  the  gentlemen  who  taught  in  the  school 
joined  in  giving  general  lessons,  dividing  among 
themselves  the  subjects  of  interest,  upon  which  each 
prepared  himself  with  much  care,  —  one  taking  the 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  227 

geography  and  climate  and  pi-oductlons  of  Palestine  ; 
another,  the  modes  of  life  and  structure  of  dwellings 
there  in  the  times  of  the  Saviour ;  another,  scriptural 
archaeology  ;  another,  natural  theology  ;  another,  the 
miracles  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  others,  the  most 
interesting  of  the  events  and  teachings  in  the  life 
of  Christ.  And  these  lessons  were  very  carefully 
adapted  to  the  capacities  of  the  children,  though  not 
infrequently  highly  instructive  to  all  present. 

A  valuable  and  constantly  increasing  library,  ob- 
tained by  donations,  and  contributions  by  the  Society 
(made  annually  upon  the  Sunday  preceding  Fast 
Day),  is  attached  to  the  school,  from  which  the 
children  are  permitted  to  take  books,  and  which  is 
very  freely  used  by  them. 

In  reverting  to  the  history  of  the  school,  as  yet 
fresh  in  the  memories  of  many^  from  its  earliest  be- 
ginnings, the  names  of  numbers  among  its  teachers 
and  pupils,  both  living  and  dead,  arise  in  grateful 
remembrance,  who  have  shed  light  and  happiness 
and  spiritual  beauty  upon  its  path,  and  the  value  of 
whose  influences  can  only  be  told  when  the  history 
of  all  hearts  shall  be  revealed.  Many  now  living 
can  number  a  score  or  more  of  years  passed  as  its 
pupils  or  instructors,  or  as  both,  who  count  the 
hours  spent  in  receiving  or  giving  instruction  there 


228  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

among  the  most  blessed  of  their  lives,  and  some  of 
whom  still  continue  this  interesting  labor  of  love 
with  unabated  zeal  and  fidelity.  Many  parents 
love  to  speak  in  grateful  recognition  of  its  agency 
in  precious  influences  upon  themselves  and  their 
children ;  and  many  a  heart  glows  with  affectionate 
friendships  formed  there,  which  they  trust  to  find 
perpetuated  in  heaven. 

It  would  be  a  delightful  office  to  give  utterance 
to  the  gratitude  due  to  them  all.  We  may  not  thus 
honor  the  living ;  but  it  may  be  allowed  to  pay  the 
tribute  of  grateful  and  affectionate  remembrance  at 
the  graves  of  those  who  have  left  us.  Distinguished 
among  these  was  John  Lowell,  jun.,  the  wise  and 
beneficent  founder  of  the  Lowell  Institute ;  a  man 
whom  a  wise  foresight,  a  profound  love  of  his  race, 
and  a  devotional  spirit,  pi-epared  to  become  one  of 
the  most  eminent  benefactors  of  his  times,  and 
whose  generosity  in  the  bestowment  of  his  great 
wealth  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  advancement 
of  his  fellow-citizens  will  perpetuate  his  name  in 
grateful  and  honored  remembrance  so  long  as  this 
city  shall  endure.  He  was  for  some  time  an  assist- 
ant superintendent  and  teacher,  and  afterwards  took 
charge  of  a  Bible-class  in  the  vestry,  as  an  appendage 
to  the  school  for  those  of  more  mature  age,  and  fre- 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  229 

quently  gave  the  general  lesson,  his  theme  being 
usually  natural  theology ;  and  many  remember  the 
great  interest  which  he  enjoyed  and  communicated 
in  his  teachings. 

Another,  no  less  respected  and  beloved,  was 
John  Clarke,  a  merchant,  then  resident  in  Boston, 
but  who  subsequently  removed  to  Salem ;  a  gentle- 
man who  enjoyed  iu  an  eminent  degree  the  con- 
fidence and  respect  of  the  community.  He  was 
distinguished  by  a  peculiar  manly  frankness,  a 
highly  cultivated  intellect,  and  earnest  interest  in 
every  thing  promotive  of  the  welfare  of  those  around 
him.  He  was  long  the  revered  instructor  of  the 
senior  class,  and  among  the  most  eflfective  teachers. 
He  also  gave  a  course  of  very  interesting  general 
lessons  upon  the  geography,  climate,  and  produc- 
tions of  Palestine. 

Dr.  Amos  Binney  also,  for  several  years,  devoted 
his  strong  and  cultivated  mind  to  this  service,  as 
much  as  his  then  impaired  health  would  permit. 

Mr.  Samuel  Hunt  also  was,  from  the  beginning, 
and  for  many  successive  years,  an  assiduous  and 
devoted  teacher,  and  at  one  time  an  active  superin- 
tendent, who  had  the  interest  of  the  school  deeply 
at  heart. 

Orlando  Pitts  is  remembered  by  many  with  pecu- 
20 


230  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

liar  interest  and  aiFection,  as  for  many  years  one  of 
the  most  affectionate,  faithful,  and  intelligent  pupils, 
whose  example  was  of  great  influence,  and  who 
subsequently  became  a  very  efficient  teacher,  and 
served  also  as  librarian  and  secretary.  He  was  a 
youth  of  rare  qualities  of  heart  and  mind,  of  an 
affectionate  and  deeply  religious  disposition  and 
winning  manners,  with  industry  and  practical  talent, 
which  were  rapidly  raising  him  to  exalted  position  in 
society.  So  attractive  were  his  manners  and  disposi- 
tion, that  it  is  related  of  him  that  little  children  were 
wont  to  await  at  his  door  in  the  morning  for  his 
coming  out,  that  they  might  join  him  in  his  walk ; 
and  so  widely  and  dearly  was  he  beloved  and  re- 
spected, that,  upon  his  decease,  his  numerous  friends 
contributed  to  raise  a  cenotaph  to  his  memory,  at 
Mount  Auburn,  with  the  following  inscription  from 
the  heart  and  pen  of  his  beloved  pastor :  — 

OKLANDO     PITTS, 

BornDec.  18, 1822; 

Deceased  Nov.  27, 1846, 

Perishing  in  the  wreck  of  the  Steamer  Atlantic. 

He  was  early  prepared  for  useful  life  or  sudden  death. 

His  friends, 

Moved  by  love  for  his  ingenuous  virtues  and  grief  for  their  loss, 

Raise  to  him  this  monument. 

His  praise  is  of  God;  his  memorial,  in  heaven. 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  231 

Among  the  teachers  in  the  girls'  school,  ^liss 
Helen  C.  Loring  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
devoted,  until  illness,  terminating  in  death,  pre- 
vented her  further  attendance. 

Of  the  nature  and  influences  of  her  teaching,  and 
of  their  effect  upon  her  pupils  and  upon  the  wel- 
fare of  the  school,  while  she  lived,  and,  since  her 
death,  in  the  agencies  of  those  whom  she  had  in- 
structed, and  more  especially  of  her  character,  it 
may  not  become  the  author  of  this  sketch  to  speak, 
though  it  might  be  only  to  lay  upon  a  sister's  grave 
a  humble  tribute  of  gratitude  for  blessings  of  which 
he  was  a  partaker.  But  it  may  be  permitted  to 
suffer  others  to  speak  of  her  in  this  connection.  In 
a  letter  by  Dr.  Channing  to  a  mutual  friend,  upon 
her  decease,  he  thus  writes :  "  She  seemed  to  be  one 
of  the  brightest  expressions  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  of  the  power  of  his  religion  in  the  trials 
of  life.  She  has  seemed  designed  to  show  how 
possible  it  is  to  live  in  heaven  Avhilst  sojourning 
here  ;  to  show  the  union  of  spirituality  with  com- 
mon affairs  ;  to  show  how  an  heroic  energy  may  be 
blended  with  the  greatest  sweetness,  tenderness,  and 
delicacy  of  soul  and  manner." 

Nor  will  the  utterance  of  another  friend  upon  that 
occasion,  of  no  less  authority,  here  be  out  of  place :  — 


2S2  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

"And  she  has  displayed  in  its  perfect  beauty  the 
Christian  triumph  in  death.  "With  perfect  willing- 
ness, without  a  fear,  and  in  the  purest  animation  of 
hope,  with  faith  like  vision  she  passed ;  and  the 
impression  that  she  still  lives  is  as  natural  as  that 
the  ship  which  has  just  sunk  below  the  horizon  still 
holds  on  her  way." 

She  died  in  July,  1838.* 

Another  of  those  whose  mission  it  was  to  illus- 
trate the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  self-devotion  to  the 
good  of  others,  was  Miss  Elizabeth  R.  Norwood, 
whose  brief  but  lovely  and  effective  ministrations  in 
the  Sunday  school  were  terminated,  by  early  death, 
in  1845.  She  came  a  stranger  into  the  circle  of 
teachers  and  worshippers  of  the  West  Church,  but 
soon  won  her  way  into  the  deep  affection  of  all  who 
were  privileged  to  know  her,  and  derived  and  com- 
municated a  spiritual  happiness,  in  communion  with 
her  pastors  and  fellow-teachers  and  the  children  of 
her  class,  which  could  flow  only  from  a  full  heart 
and  cultivated  mind.  Her  chamber,  during  a  long, 
protracted   illness,  was  a  fountain   from  which   her 


*  It  was  a  lovely  summer  morning;  and,  as  the  day  dawned,  she  re- 
quested that  the  window  by  her  bedside  might  be  raised;  and,  looking 
up  into  the  sky,  she  said,  "  A  beautiful  morning !  I  am  going:  good-by, 
dear  aunt!  "  And,  with  a  gentle  pressure  of  the  hand  and  a  heavenly 
smile  upon  her  lips,  she  passed  away. 


ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL.  233 

friends  and  dearly  loved  pupils  drank  deep  of  the 
beauty  of  Christian  faith  and  hope  ;  and  she  is 
remembered  as  another  star  in  heaven,  to  attract 
their  eyes  upward  as  they  journey  here. 

The  name  of  Abigail  W.  Wilder,  another  teacher 
who  was  early  taken  to  the  home  in  heaven,  —  to 
which,  by  instruction  and  example,  she  sought  to 
lead  the  children  committed  to  her  care  in  the 
school,  —  will  long  be  held,  by  them  and  her  com- 
panions in  the  good  work,  in  fond  remembrance. 

In  this  brief  statement  of  the  history  and  orga- 
nization of  this  school,  enough  appears  to  evince 
how  great  may  be  the  agency  of  one  in  the  welfare 
of  a  religious  society,  not  only  in  the  culture  of 
the  young,  but  also  in  promoting  a  closer  union 
between  the  pastor  and  his  people  than  can  other- 
wise exist,  especially  in  a  city  congregation ;  in 
the  cultivation  of  friendships  and  mutual  confi- 
dence among  its  members,  and  between  the  elder 
and  younger  portions  of  them,  by  which  its  Chris- 
tian sympathies  and  efficiency  may  be  advanced  and 
extended. 

This  school  has  been  the  object  of  great  care  and 
solicitude  on  the  part  of  the  pastors,  and  many  of  the 
Society,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  schedule  of  teachers 
appended.     The  Senior  Pastor  has  for  several  years 

20* 


234  ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 

been  prevented  by  bodily  infirmity  from  bestowing 
his  accustomed  invaluable  attention  to  it ;  but  it  has 
been  most  sedulously  watched  over  and  cared  for  by 
the  Junior  Pastor,  who  not  only  has  performed  the 
ordinary  services  of  general  visitation  and  encourage- 
ment, but  has  for  some  time  past  taken  upon  him- 
self the  office  of  superintendent,  giving  general 
lessons,  and  performing  the  other  duties  pertaining 
to  that  office ;  besides  holding  monthly  meetings  of 
teachers  at  his  house,  which  are  attended  with  great 
interest,  and  seeking  by  his  influence  and  efforts,  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  to  promote  and  extend  its 
usefulness. 

It  is  now  in  a  flourishing  condition,  with  an  in- 
creasing number  of  pupils ;  but  assistance  in  the 
boys'  department  is  much  needed,  and  it  is  hoped 
will  not  longer  be  withheld. 


L    I    S    T 


SUPERINTENDENTS  AND  TEACHERS  OF  THE 
SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


MESIBERS    OF    THE    GLEANING    CIRCLE,   AND   OF   THE   WEST-BOSTON 

SOCIETY,  WHO   WERE   ENCAGED   IN   THE   SUNDAY-TEACmNG 

OF  THE   CHARITY  SCHOOL. 


Those  marked  with  an  asterisk  (•)  are  deceased. 


*Mi.ss  Susan  W.  Seavcr. 

Miss  Sophia  Dennie. 

Miss  Caroline  Dennie. 
•Miss  Mary  Gore. 
*Miss  Rebecca  Gore. 
*Miss  Eliza  Gore. 


•Miss  Eliza  Cheever  Davis. 
•Miss  Mary  Ann  Loring, 

Miss  Eliza  D.  Williams. 

Miss  Mary  Goddard. 

Miss  Miranda  Goddard. 


LADIES    WHO    ARE    OR    HAVE    BEEN    TEACHERS    IN    THE    SUNDAY 
SCHOOL    OF    THE    WEST-BOSTON    SOCIETY. 


Baldwin,  Eliza  W. 
•Barry,  Esther. 

Belknap,  Anna  B. 

Binney,  Maria  L. 

Choate,  Sarah  C. 

Choatc,  Martha  II. 

Collins,  Sarah. 

Cunningham,  Anna  B. 
•Cordis,  Eliza. 


Coolidge,  Caroline  M. 
Dennie,  Caroline. 
Dennie,  Eliza  M. 
Dennie,  Sarah  B. 
Dennie,  Sarah  Bryant. 
Dorr,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  C. 
Eaton,  Eliza. 
Eaton,  Louisa  B. 
Eaton,  Margaret  D. 


236 


SUPERINTENDENTS    AND    TEACHERS    OF 


Fairfield,  Lucia  G. 

Fairfield,  Mary  E.  H. 

Fairfield,  Martha  H. 

Faulkner,  Elizabeth  C. 

Faulkner,  Elizabeth. 

Goodwin,  Mrs.  Lucy  N. 

Gaffield,  Caroline  A. 

Gerry,  M.  Augusta. 
*Gerry,  Emma. 
*  Gerry,  Mary  Ann. 

Hartshorn,  Harriet. 

Heath,  Emeline  A. 

Howard,  Catharine  H. 

Howard,  Elizabeth. 

Howard,  Hepsy  C.  S. 

Healey,  Caroline  W. 

Hurlbert,  Caroline  T. 

Hastings,  Caroline. 

Hastings,  Charlotte  B. 
*Hastings,  Eliza. 

Hallett,  Georgianna. 

Hunt,  Helen  S. 

Holman,  Mrs.  Charlotte  R. 

Hersey,  Lucretia  M. 

Hersey,  Caroline  F. 

Hooton,  Mrs.  Mary  E. 

Johnson,  Emily. 

Jones,  Maria  L. 

Kuhn,  Ann. 

Kuhn,  Caroline  M. 

Kendall,  Judith  P. 

Kendall,  Sarah  W. 

Kendall,  Hannah  W. 

Kendall,  Mrs.  Cordelia  E,. 

Knight,  Sophia. 

Little,  Elizabeth  H. 

Little,  Harriet  S. 

Locke,  Mary  F. 
*Loring,  Helen  C. 

Loring,  Jane  L. 


Loring,  Susan  M. 

Lothrop,  Sarah  J. 

Lowell,  Rebecca  R. 
*Lowell,  Mrs.  John,  jun. 

McClure,  Nancy  J. 

Munroe,  Mehitable  C. 

Munroe,  Jane  C. 

Newman,  Anna  B. 

Newman,  Mary. 

Newman,  Susan  D. 

Newman,  Margaret. 

Newman,  Caroline. 
♦Norwood,  Elizabeth  R. 

Otis,  Mary. 

Otis,  Sarah  T. 

Otis,  Caroline  W. 

Parker,  Emily  T. 

Parker,  Martha  W. 
*Prentiss,  Eliza. 

Perkins,  Mary  T. 

Perkins,  Ann  T. 

Ridgway,  Susanna  S. 

Ridgway,  Mary  Ann. 

Robinson,  Mary  S. 

Russell,  Louisa. 

Russell,  Mary  A.  P. 

Stoddard,  Polly  E.  L. 
*Thwing,  Ruth. 
*Thwing,  Martha. 

Thayer,  Mrs.  Mary  B. 

Tracy,  Mrs.  Sophia  D. 

Train,  Adeline  D. 

Ware,  Horatio  S. 
*Wilder,  Abigail  W. 

Wiswell,  Ann  M. 

Willard,  Theodora. 
*Wells,  Mrs.  Seth. 
« Wells,  Adelaide. 

Woods,  Maria  A. 


THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL. 


237 


GENTLEMEN    WHO    ARE     OR     HAVE     BEEN    SUPERINTENDENTS    OR 

TEACUERS    IN    TUE    SUNDAY    SCUOOL    OF    THE 

\VE?T-BOSTON    SOCIETY. 


•Andrews,  Cakb. 

Baker,  Amos. 
♦Baldwin,  S.  Purkraan. 

Badger,  Willard. 

Bartol,  Cyrus  A. 

Bartol,  George  M. 
•Binncy,  Amos. 

Binney,  Amos,  jun. 

Binney,  William  G. 

Binney,  William  C. 

Binncy,  Charles  J.  F. 

Brown,  John,  jun. 

Bragg,  Alfred. 

Bullard,  William  S. 

Clarke,  Henry  W. 
♦Clarke,  John. 

Clark,  George  D. 

Coolidgc,  William  D. 

Canterbury,  Charles. 

Cunningham,  C.  Loring 

Cormcrais,  John. 

Darling,  F.  D. 

Dennie,  Thomas,  jun. 

Dcnnie,  James,  jun. 

Draper,  I^orenzo. 

Domett,  Henry  W. 

Eaton,  Charles  F. 
•Fairfield,  John  Oliver. 

Fiskc,  Augustus  II. 

Fi>h,  Moses  W. 

Fisher,  James  T. 


Gaffield,  Thomas. 
♦Gaffield,  James. 

Gould,  John  M. 

Gould,  Samuel. 

Gould,  Thoniius  R. 

Gray,  William. 

Hardy,  Thomas. 

Hartshorn,  Charles. 

Haskell,  Levi  B. 

Hastings,  George  R. 
♦Hunt,  Samuel. 

Ilolman,  Oliver. 
♦Kendall,  Joseph  S. 

Knight,  Manasseh. 

Loring,  Charles  G. 

Loring,  C.  William. 

Loring,  Charles  G.,  jun. 
♦Lowell,  John,  jun. 

Miles,  Henry  T. 

Moors,  Joseph  B. 
♦Paige,  David  W. 
♦Perkins,  John  S. 
♦Pitts,  Orlando. 

Pojx",  Augustus  R. 

Parks,  Luther,  jun. 

Poor,  Arthur  II. 
•Poor,  Geiirge  F. 

Richards,  Reuben  A. 

Richards,  William  B. 

Ridgway,  John,  jun. 
♦Russell,  James. 


238 


SUPERINTENDENTS    AND    TEACHERS. 


Shattuck,  George  C,  jun. 
Sherwin,  Thomas. 
*Terry.  John  S. 
Tracy,  Frederic  U. 
Wadsworth,  Alexander. 


Ware,  Loammi  G. 
Whiting,  James. 
Willard,  Joseph. 
Willard,  Sydney. 
*Withington,  Oliver  W. 


***  Any  mistakes  or  imperfections  in  the  above  List  will  be  excused  by  our 
readers,  as  the  unfortunate  loss  of  valuable  early  records  of  the  school  rendered 
perfect  accuracy  impossible. 


239 


NOTE. 


The  members  of  the  West  Church  will  understand  perfectly  how 
the  various  parts  of  this  little  work  have  arisen,  and  how  tliey  join 
together  to  form  a  real  and  natural  whole.  Readers  beyond  the 
parish-circle  will  excuse  what  may  seem  the  inartificial,  miscella- 
neous, and  unique  character  of  its  composition,  when  they  remem- 
ber how  entirely  it  is  a  product  of  providential  circumstances  and 
successive  suggestions.  For  the  closing  portion,  relating  to  our 
Sunday  school,  it  were  an  injustice  to  withhold  especial  thanks  to 
the  author,  whose  zeal  has  found,  amid  the  press  of  many  avo- 
cations, timoto  commemorate  the  institution  which  was  for  many 
years  his  own  peculiar  and  beloved  charge ;  which  owes  much  of 
its  prosi^crity  to  his  earnest  and  never-remitted  instruction  and 
care;  but  whose  devotion  to  it  has  been  so  disinterested  and  single- 
hearted,  that  he  would  refuse  even  this  simple  tribute  of  our  grati- 
tude, were  it  not,  as  out  of  oiur  common  heart,  given  altogether 
without  his  own  knowledge. 


241 


APPENDIX 


PB^CEEDINGS    OF    THE    PARISH. 


It  can  hardly  fail  trf  appear  to  all  readers  of  this  volume,  as  it 
does  to  those  having  charge  of  its  publication,  honorable  to  the 
ancient  and  respected  Association  that  passed  the  following  resolu- 
tions, no  less  than  just  to  him  on  whose  account  they  were  framed, 
that  they  should  have  in  these  pages  a  distinct  place.  They  are 
therefore  here  subjoined. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Boston  Association  of  Congrega- 
tional Ministers  held  this  day  (Dec.  24,  1855),  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  adopted :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  Association,  having  learned  that  it  is 
the  intention  of  the  West  Church  to  celebrate  the  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  its  Senior  Pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Lowell,  on 
the  first  Sunday  of  the  new  year,  feel,  and  wish  in  some 
simple  way  to  express,  their  deep  interest  in  the  occasion 
of  that  ceremony. 

Resolved,  That,  although  the  younger  portion  of  this 
body  must  speak  rather  from  tradition  than  from  expe- 
rience, we  look  back  with  emotion  to  the  days  when  our 
revered  and  beloved  brother  was  accustomed  to  take  his 

21 


242  APPENDIX    TO    THE    "PROCEEDINGS." 

seat  among  us,  and  to  share  and  exchange  with  us  the 
laborious  joy  of  the  Christian  pulpit,  and  to  the  later 
time  when  we  were  compelled  to  relinquish  the  animation 
of  his  presence,  the  wisdom  of  his  counsel,  and  the  strong 
advantage  of  his  aid. 

Resolved,  That  we  bless  the  Divine  Providence  which 
has  dealt  so  kindly  with  him  in  his  invalid  but  honored 
retirement,  and  has  so  kept  with  him  the  hearts  of  his 
people,  that  the  pastoral  tie  which  bound  him  to  them 
half  a  century  ago  retains  still  its  early  ten(ierness  and 
strength. 

Resolved,  That,  though  our  Sunday  duties  will  so  occupy 
us  that  we  cannot  personally  attend  the  solemnities  of 
that  jubilee,  our  hearts  will  be  there  in  the  remembrances 
that  are  awakened  and  cherished,  in  the  thanks  that  are 
returned,  aqd  in  the  prayers  that  are  offered  up  on  behalf 
of  the  aged  pastor,  who  can  now  scarcely  serve  but  with 
his  heart,  and  speak  but  from  his  privacy ;  and  on  behalf 
of  the  younger  minister,  who  still  stands  fully  girt  for  his 
work ;  and  for  the  prosperity  of  the  church  which  so 
endearingly  connects  their  names. 

Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  transmitted 
by  the  scribe  through  the  Junior  to  the  Senior  Pastor  of 
the  "West  Church. 

[Signed]  Rufus  Ellis, 

Scribe  of  the  Boston  Association  of 
Congregational  Ministers. 


AYS 

-ged  for  ead 


BX9834  .B7W5  .A3 
The  West  Church; 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


and  its  ministers 


Wmmm\ 


